For Love or Hate
by AlmineGoneWild
Summary: Death is not the end but rather a new beginning and being thrown into a world you've only heard about in fiction is bound to produce ripples to spread and change what was once thought to be set in stone. Knowing she's now in a world gripped by hatred, Alexandra Margret, now Mitsu Uchiha will have to bring her whole heart into a new game to prove that love can truly conquer hate.
1. Prologue

_I'd never given much thought to how I would die; much like Bella Swan from Twilight. But I knew when my time was up. I'd taken several bullets and several knife wounds to places that were vital and my body was beginning to shut down. There was no way I'd make it to a hospital; not that I believe they'd be able to fix this mess._

 _I suppose I'd walked right into it the moment I'd been able to wrench my best friend from the clutches of her alcoholic abusive boyfriend. While she was forever grateful, he became vengeful. So it shouldn't have surprised me when his gang showed up to an old out of date and out of town movie house to jump us as we were coming out._

 _I'd handled most of them pretty well only gaining a few scratches and cuts here and there. I'd knocked them out easily enough. But then 'he'd' decided to pull out his gun which he'd stolen from somewhere I'm sure. He claimed he knew my weakness and so he promptly aimed the gun at my best friend's heart. With my speed, I'd made it just in time to block the hit with my own body. It passed through my shoulder blade completely destroying it._

 _The shots hadn't stopped there. A few more hit my calf, my hip and luckily a few just missed but by the time it was over, I was riddled with bullet wounds, bleeding out fast, growing dizzy and in need of medical attention. He'd grinned maniacally as he downed the last of his beer. Then he came for us._

 _My friend was busy crying hysterically, trying to keep me with her. It was when I somehow sensed the knife coming in from behind that I found the strength to shove her away and turned to catch the incoming threat with my bare hand earning a nasty gash in between my index and middle finger on my right hand. I'd watched one of my favourite anime characters do this once and in that moment it'd hurt like a bitch. However, he had the upper hand as my strength was waning and was able after a few tugs to pull the knife back now glistening with my blood. He attacked again._

 _In that instant, I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins and I attacked back with sloppy yet still accurately strong kicks and punches from my still good arm. I knew taking those karate classes would benefit me someday. Of course, he got a few good stabs in since drunks were wildly unpredictable. Finally he cut me somewhere in the diaphragm and I coughed up blood. He attempted to kill her next and make me watch but despite my growing inability to breathe properly, I acted on the last amount of adrenaline I had and attacked, jumping up and grabbing ahold of the scarf she'd asked me to give him once just to be kind. How ironic that it would be his undoing one day._

 _I grabbed the ends and kicked his knee joint from behind hard enough to snap it. He hollered out in pain and attempted to turn around to kill me instantly but I was one step ahead as I ducked then managed to tie the scarf ever so tightly around his wind pipe and hold on. I kicked out his other knee and continued pulling on the scarf to keep him away from my friend who could only watch in horror. It was at this point I yelled slash wheezed at her to turn away and somehow – thankfully – she tore her gaze away from the gruesome sight of her ex-boyfriend trying to kill her best friend while her best friend returned the favor. I did it to protect her._

 _"_ _You won't get away with this bitch!" he choked out. His eyes danced with a fury promising vengeance. I continued my assault by shifting into a choke hold to help out the scarf. He gagged and slammed his knife down into my arm. However, I only tightened my grip and gritted my teeth, allowing a few pain filled tears to roll down my cheeks._

 _"_ _Yeah, well I could say the same for you!" I replied finding it increasingly hard to breathe yet enough strength and air to talk back anyways._

 _"_ _Bitch; I'll kill you!" he tried to scream but it only came out as a strangled cry. I chuckled darkly – couldn't help it; just the spur of the moment I guess._

 _"_ _No worries pal, I think you've already succeeded," I choked out. "I'm just making sure that I'm your only victim tonight by returning the favor. Think of it…'cough', 'cough', 'cough'…as a life for a life kinda deal; equivalent exchange!" I know right? Here I am dying and I'm referencing the Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm not saying my whole life revolved around anime no. I'm just going to point out that it was that which taught me how to protect my loved ones. I'd joined karate the moment my little brother started getting beat up after school._

 _I'm a guardian; a protector and that's what I've always been. Whether it's been guarding my siblings against school bullies or defending my mother's honor as a mother and proud strong woman; hell I've even stood up for strangers. I don't care if the heat switches onto me no matter what because as long as it's on me; I know that I've done my job in becoming the enemy and making the ones I care about less of a target. The same goes for this situation so I'm not going to back down; no matter what. I accept the consequences of my actions to protect._

 _"_ _Y-you'll go to jail," he choked out, barely able to speak anymore. His face was turning an ungodly colour. I chuckled again._

 _"_ _No…you're wrong. I'll be dead but your ex-girlfriend will still live on and tell everyone what an asshole you are. It must suck having to die this way," I quipped. I'm wheezing harder now by the way._

 _"_ _But me…'cough', 'cough', 'cough', 'cough' , 'cough'…I have no regrets!" With that he went limp in my arms and I knew he was gone. I dropped him unceremoniously on the ground and untied the scarf. Then I collapsed looking toward my friend still looking away and crying silently._

 _"_ _I'm sorry," I apologized. "That's probably not something you wanted to see or hear huh?" She whirled around slightly angry at me but mostly fearful. She shuffled over to me in a great hurry and started sobbing._

 _"_ _Why!?" she screamed, pounding the pavement. "Why, why, why, why!" I remained silent letting her calm down. I believe I distinctly heard sirens in the distance and I was vaguely aware of the crowd gathering._

 _"_ _Why are you such a stupid bitch!? Why'd it have to end this way!?" she shuddered. I smirked. I think my legs just went numb; I can't feel some things anymore and the feeling is spreading all over my body slowly yet quickly._

 _"_ _You shouldn't be crying on my account," I spoke hoarsely. "I've done something unforgivable here. I killed a man who probably had some people who still cared about him somewhere else! They won't ever get to see him again so it's only fair that the same is said for me." She hiccupped as her tears ran down her face._

 _"_ _But it wasn't your f-fault!" she wept. "He tried to kill me and you…you…he struck first!" she tried to reason._

 _"_ _Even so…'cough'…if I did survive this night I'd probably be sent to prison. I would go to court because I still killed a man and that's called murder. It could've been solved another way I guess but to be honest I was scared I wouldn't…'cough', 'cough', 'cough', 'cough', 'cough'….'cough', 'cough', 'cough', 'cough', 'cough'…" I had to take a moment to catch whatever little breath I had left._

 _"_ _I was scared I wouldn't be strong enough to simply knock him out; to beat him ya know? My instincts just took over. Although I suppose seeing you happy and alive would be enough for me. You're one of my very precious people." I shuddered in the cold but only barely. I was losing the ability to feel anything physically. My eyesight was also beginning to go blurry but I managed to clear it to at least say a few last things. I took her hand in mine somehow._

 _"_ _Listen…you have to promise me…that no matter what happens next…you'll live on and find something to be happy about again. Find someone who will treat you right and give you the life you deserve okay! Also…if you could tell my family…a few things too…I'd be most grateful." Her eyes shined with tears._

 _"_ _But…but what about finishing your degree; graduating and getting that job you wanted? Damn it Alex we were supposed to move to New York together!" I gave her a pained smile._

 _"_ _Yeah…guess you'll have to go there without me. I'll be rootin' for ya though. But could you please listen…'wheeze', 'cough', 'wheeze'…I don't have much time left." She froze for a moment before nodding her head and wiping at her tears. I gave her a smile._

 _"_ _Good. Please…tell my mother that I followed the path I wanted for myself and I risked my life to do so to make it worthwhile. Tell my father…that he doesn't have to feel guilty because he raised me to believe in myself and protect the ones I care about. Please tell them both…I love them with all of my heart and that even though this might be hard for them, I know they'll pull through." I took some more breaths, shaky and wheezy but still enough to let me finish._

 _"_ _Next…'wheeze', tell my brothers not to fight each other over every little thing. They love each other even if they won't admit it and they'll need each other for the hardships to come. Also…tell them to look after our sister too. Make sure she doesn't fall into despair and keep her safe. I know they're…strong!" Now the light is fading. Damn, how long can a dying person go on right?_

 _"_ _For my sister…she's reckless and immature. Make sure she knows to be careful in the future and not to fight mom and dad over what they put on the table. She is now the official winner in Mario Kart and I hope she'll follow her own heart as well into the future." I took a few more breaths. Probably my last ones._

 _"_ _Lastly…tell the gang…I made my grand exit with pride. I may not have made it to stardom but I know they all sure as hell will. Tell Jake I'll miss him and that I love him still but I don't want him to be stuck on me. If he finds himself falling in love with someone else…make sure she'll treat him well and love him back the way I did. I want him to find happiness again…too." I stopped once more thinking I couldn't go on. However, I could still hear her sniffling in the distance. Damn I was fading all too quickly. I felt a stray tear run down my cheek. Was it mine?_

 _"_ _Raina…" I wheezed out using my very last breath. I wonder if I'm even still talking."…I love you all…you were my...greatest treasures!" Then…I fell into oblivion._


	2. New Life

**_Mikoto_**

I left the clinic that day with excitement and pride. Once again I was pregnant and now Itachi could have a sibling. I couldn't wait to tell him or Fugaku about the surprise. Maybe over a nice dinner with their favourite foods all combined. I could just see their faces now.

"Good morning Mikoto!" a familiar voice called out. I turned to see my best friend and rival Kushina Uzumaki making her way towards me carrying bags of groceries. I smiled in return.

"Good morning Kushina. You seem rather happy today," I commented. My smile was probably bigger than life.

"Hm; it seems you're happier," she observed. Then with a sly look she got closer. "Care to explain?" I blushed some at my inability to hide my excitement.

"Oh nothing really," I tried to lie. However, Kushina was probably the only one who could read me as well as Fugaku could. I could tell she didn't buy it. However, an idea popped into my head and my face brightened even more.

"Oh, how about if Minato's not too busy tonight you two come over and share dinner with us?" I offered. She grew slightly suspicious.

"Huh? What's the occasion? It's not Itachi's birthday is it because I think I'd remember something like that," she claimed. I chuckled and turned to head towards the compound.

"Oh there's nothing to worry about," I told her. "I just have something to tell everyone and I would like it if you and Minato could be a part of it. You are our friends after all," I said. She thought it over then smiled.

"Okay, I'll see about getting Minato there tonight. You just go home and get Fu-Fu prepared for company okay?" I laughed at her chosen nickname for my husband. He was usually stoic and cold on the outside so it was nice to know Kushina still could drive him up the wall with something so simple just like when we were kids.

"Will do," I laughed cheerily as I waved to her goodbye. As I was walking away I heard another familiar voice call out to me.

"Mother?" it said and I turned to see Itachi coming up to greet me. I smiled warmly at my first son.

"Hello Itachi, what brings you out today?" I wondered. He cocked his head the way he usually did ever since seeing the battlefield Fugaku had taken him to – I still have mixed feelings about all of that. His curiosity had grown since then and he was always asking questions or gazing off into the distance in thought trying to muddle through his thoughts.

"Just…thinking," he replied simply. I nodded then gestured for him to follow me. He did so and we began walking home to the compound together.

"Mother," he said after a while. "Are you sick?" I looked at him surprised.

"Huh?" I asked. He continued to look at me.

"It's just…you've been going to the clinic a lot lately. I was wondering if it was because you were ill." I smiled and placed a comforting hand upon his shoulder.

"I can assure you I'm not sick. I've just had to go in for a few checkups. But why don't we leave this discussion for tonight alright? I invited Kushina and Minato over for dinner. You remember them right?" He nodded in confirmation.

"Great!" I beamed a smile at him. "Let's go home now and get the house ready for them alright?" He nodded again and was silent for the rest of the trip home.

Once there, we took off our shoes and he headed out to the living room to clean it up some. Meanwhile I headed for the kitchen to start making dinner. I decided on chicken dumplings for Itachi, Fugaku's favourite fish, some of Minato's favourite sushi and of course ramen for Kushina with assorted toppings. I made my favourite as well which was pretty much the same as Itachi's and chopped up some vegetables too. I put together a snack food tray as well for conversation afterwards which I knew would ensue.

Fugaku came in the door from work as I was finishing up the preperations. He sniffed the air and approached me in the kitchen after having taken his shoes off.

"I see you've set out the bigger table," he stated. "Are we having company?" I nodded after tasting the dumpling sauce to make sure it was right.

"Yes; I invited Kushina and her husband over tonight." Fugaku raised his eyebrows at me.

"Any reason why?" he asked. I just turned to him with a devious smile.

"Let's just say it's a surprise and leave it at that k?" He sighed but consented before going upstairs to clean himself up. After a little while there was heavy and excited knocking on our front door. I could tell who it was without needing to open it.

"Itachi, could you get that please?" I asked as I brought some of the dinner off the stove and started placing it in its dish.

"Yes mother," he replied and approached the door. Once it was opened I heard Kushina squealing over how cute Itachi was and I had to keep from laughing. I heard Fugaku come down from upstairs.

"Minato; Kushina; it's great to see you again," Fugaku said from the entryway. I imagined him shaking a shy Minato's hand and smiled at the thought.

"Thanks Fugaku. It was very nice of you and Mikoto to have us over. Thank you."

"Of course; come in, come in," Fugaku ushered them in and Kushina wasted no time finding her way into the kitchen.

"Ah, that smells so great Mikoto!" she said excitedly. "Is that ramen I smell?" she wondered. I nodded with a knowing smile.

"Of course; I'm making everybody's favourite tonight." She stared at me with shock before giving me a sly look.

"Okay, now I know something's up. You have some sort of big surprise set up don't you? Although I can't think of any occasion to warrant such an act." I giggled some.

"Oh you'll learn enough eventually when the time comes. For now, would you mind helping me set the table? If I don't give you something to do you'll end up doing something else and I want Fugaku in a good mood tonight." She pouted some but agreed nonetheless. She helped me dish up the food and set it at the table. Meanwhile, we could hear Minato and Fugaku talking about things in the living room with Itachi probably listening in with nothing better to do. Finally we finished and Kushina rushed into the living room.

"It's ready; come and get it," she called out in a sing song voice. The boys came in and sat in their respectable seats. We began eating and exchanging conversation. Itachi and Kushina both kept their eyes on me with some anticipation and suspicion. Of course they'd be the ones who caught on first. Finally, as our meals began to end, Fugaku couldn't take it anymore.

"So…what was it you called this dinner for again?" he wondered. I decided it was time so I just smiled a really big smile.

"Oh no reason really…I just wanted to celebrate with my family and our two closest friends."

"I see," Minato said. "But what's the celebration for?"

"Well…" I started, drawing out the word plus giving everyone a sly look. Kushina was on pins and needles.

"Oh come on, tell us already; please?" she begged. I laughed at her eagerness then let my eyes fall upon Itachi.

"Well…I just wanted to throw a celebration for Itachi," I said.

"For me?" he asked curiously. "But what for?" I then gave him my biggest smile ever; it was so big my eyes were squeezed shut.

"It's a celebration for you because you see…a few months from now…in the summer I believe…you'll be a big brother." I said proudly. The atmosphere became quiet. I opened my eyes to see Itachi's face so young and surprised staring back at me. Fugaku's mouth was somewhat agape which had Minato holding in a snicker while Kushina was trying and failing in containing herself. Finally she just let it all out and jumped from her place on my opposite side to pull me into a strong armed hug.

"Oh Mikoto!" she squealed. "You're so cheeky ya know and I'm so proud of you to ya know!?" she continued squealing and hugging me.

"Well that was quite the surprise eh Fugaku?" Minato asked innocently. Fugaku took this moment to realize his mouth was hanging open before closing it and failing to contain the big smile growing on his face. He sighed.

"Now I know why you've been trying to take over the extra bedroom," he stated. I giggled. Their faces were all priceless especially Itachi's and I could tell he was excited even if he was good at hiding his emotions like his father. I smiled over at him again.

"So…do you think you'll get a brother or a sister?" I asked. He got up to come over to me and I let him sit down in my lap pulling him into a hug. He hummed in thought and he rested his ear over my still flat belly.

"I think…it'll be both," he whispered. I widened my eyes with shock.

"Both?" I repeated incredulously. Kushina snickered beside us.

"What's this? Planning on having twins are we?" she teased. I smiled uncertainly at that.

"I don't even know. It was only confirmed I was pregnant today at the clinic. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see now won't we?" I asked turning back to Itachi. He looked up at me then let a small smile onto his face before laying his head against my belly again.

"Mmhm," he said. I smiled and shared a kiss with my husband before we completely finished our meals and put the dishes in the sink to wash later. Next we conversed in the living room with a small dessert tray keeping us occupied. I believe Uruchi and Teyaki came by later that evening where we told them the news as well and the party really got going. Eventually it had all died down and everyone had to go home.

After waving goodbye, I went into the kitchen to find Itachi already washing and drying dishes. I began to put them away with him and later I went up when he was ready for bed to tuck him in. I kissed him goodnight and went to join Fugaku in our room. As I snuggled in he pulled me close to him.

"So…do you think Itachi's right?" he asked. I thought back on our kitchen conversation. I simply smiled as I closed my eyes.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But anything's possible," I told him. That night; I couldn't have known how right I'd been.

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

Warmth! That's the first thing I recognized. It's a lot different than the nothingness I've felt so far. I didn't think I'd feel anything else ever again and I forget why I was in the nothingness to begin with. But at least now I'm someplace warm and comforting. As time moves on, I can feel myself growing more in this small space from something small to something more.

Then I recognized a presence. Someone else was with me and I felt…connected to it although I don't know why or how. Whatever, I was just happy not to be alone anymore. The warmth may have been a step up from the dark nothingness but it had still been lonely for a while.

For a time we shared the space; becoming familiar with one another and even feeling and playing with something that passed between us. I wondered what it was every time it happened but then I'd forget about it. Finally after a long amount of time in the warmth, I feel my companion slip away somewhere else and become frightened. I don't want to be alone again and this space I'm in is really tight too.

However…I don't spend much time there as I feel myself being pushed towards someplace smaller head first. I become frightened as I feel my self being squeezed around the head and all I want is to get out of there. My wish is granted a few seconds later as I'm pushed out of the warm place and feel hands I believe catching me. I tried to sigh with relief but I couldn't breathe properly. Why was that?

After a few seconds I hear worried voices while another voice cries in the distance and I'm still trying to breathe. How can I breathe? There's something blocking the air from coming inside to give me relief. The worried voices continue and are very loud and I begin to start feeling numb for some reason. A flash of memory occurs where there's pain and this same numb feeling; the feeling of slipping away and I don't want to because I think that means I'll die. But I don't want to do that. I'm so scared and the pain in my lungs becomes too much. I squirm a bit then open my mouth trying to call for help but only a small noise escapes me and I feel the blockage keeping air from me budge a bit. I have an idea.

I try making the noise again, the worried voices surrounding me getting more frantic and finally when I realize that the small noise isn't cutting it, I go all out and make a big loud noise which is the biggest damn wail I've ever wailed in my life – at least I think so. I'm just so confused right now. I realized that I have to cry in order to get this disgusting stuff outta me so I go right on crying and crying. The worried voices cease with sighs of relief and relaxation. I feel myself being moved through the air and soon I'm feeling wet like someone's bathing me.

I feel as the gunk that was on me before is wiped away and I'm lathered in something comforting and smooth. I'm breathing better now, so I stagger my crying a bit. Finally my bath is done and I'm wrapped up in something warm to dry off. Finally I'm laid down on a flat surface.

Next I feel my head being turned towards the left. Reflexively my right arm flexed and my hand opened some. Huh…that's weird. The same thing happens once I've had my head turned the opposite direction. Then I feel something brushing against my left foot and my toes spread out with my bigger one pointing into the air. This happens again on my opposite foot and I have to wonder why my body is reacting this way.

These little things continue and I discover reflexes I never knew I had. I immediately grasped someone's finger I think when they placed it in my hand; I was sat upright and nearly dropped which was kind of annoying and I forget what I did to try and stop myself from falling. My cheeks were stroked one at a time and for some reason I was turning my head sideways trying to suck on god knows what.

Once again I was upright for a bit with more support this time and as I felt my foot touch the ground I tried to walk I think but was pulled away and finally they did something really weird where I was laying frontwards and someone was stroking my spine. Quite honestly I was bothered by all of the physical contact they – whoever they were, were doing so I was whining and squirming through it all. Wait…when did I become so childish? Oh…wait…forget I asked that question.

Next I heard the voices again. For some reason they sounded far away and like they were talking gibberish or…was that Japanese; Chinese? I usually get those two mixed up so I have no clue really. But wait…my memory is slowly starting to come back I think and…well…is that normal? Why would I ask something like that, it's not like I've been in a coma right? Very…strange.

I can feel myself being brought somewhere again. This time I'm given to someone else wait…was I always this small? I don't remember having to be carried like this for a very long time. I mean I can feel my body and even something weird and totally new flowing inside of me yet I know I can't move the way I used to be able to. Just what the hell's going on here?

I started to cry and squirm some; unable to comprehend what was going on. However, a nice soothing voice tried to shush me then started singing some kind of song. It sounds like something I'd hear from either intros or endings of my favourite anime's. Oh good I still remember those.

Strangely, I'm finding myself being soothed by this gentle voice. A lot of bustling around nearby lets me know that they're probably cleaning up or something. I let myself be soothed and hear the sound of someone else; the sound of a baby's whine. I try to open my eyes but the light's too bright.

I hear a woman's voice talking but I don't understand what she's saying. I guess that's what happens when you're hardwired to the English language. But I have a feeling she's talking to me and someone else too.

After some time the hustle and bustle dies down and then two more people's voices approach us. I can sense their presences too since I could feel the pressure of the same weird stuff that I was able to practice with in that warm place.

Wait…hold the phone…warm place? Then I was pushed out; squeezed out actually and then was made a fuss over. They did those weird things…testing my reflexes! Then there's the fact I feel a lot smaller than what I used to be and I've been treated just like a…like a…like…a…holy crap I'm a baby!

I realized this just as I felt myself being shifted some and sensed the presence I remembered from the warm place going someplace else. Wait did that mean I was born with someone else? Another presence must make me a twin to somebody else. I suppose I could ask how this has happened but I also remember dying to save a friend and I don't know how reincarnation works; that's God's department.

I'm pulled out of my inner freak out as I hear the woman's voice from before. Is she possibly my new mother? Huh no wonder I don't mind it here. She speaks to someone in the foreign language – definitely has to be Japanese because it sounds like I'm listening to anime again. I know, I know, that's not really how I should compare languages but it's the best I've got. Suddenly I feel a finger poking me. I try to get away from it. It hesitates and then just tickles a bit under my chin. I tried to get away from that too because seriously what is it with everyone poking and prodding me today?

I feel the person I assume is my mother shift under me again and I feel myself being passed to someone else. Okay, now I'm really curious so while she talks to whoever it is, I slowly crack my eyes open once more. The light's still a bit bright so I blink a few times until the brightness clears then I see colours and shapes coming together. Finally I have a clear picture of who I'm staring at.

Near shoulder length black hair; a high collared shirt from what I can tell; an angular face and eyes with black irises staring straight into my own eyes. I blinked again because for some reason this person looks oddly familiar to me. I wonder if I've ever seen him before. As he continues staring at me there comes this brief moment when his eyes widen and I feel the connection too. It's almost like…he could see my very soul or something which is kind of creepy when I think of it.

A strong male voice from nearby talks to the boy earning his attention and I try to see where he's looking. But then I feel myself being handed to another pair of hands which are slightly rough but strong and protecting. He holds me the way the boy previous was holding me only he bounces me a few times and I nearly puke. Finally though, I see his face for the first time. It's oddly familiar too but not by much. I stare into his eyes and he smiles warmly down into mine.

The woman talks to him again and he turns to her before turning back to me and smiling while rocking me back and forth some. He speaks again but this time he says a name I understand and remember.

"Uchiha, Sasuke," he says and I feel my eyes widen in disbelief. I know I've heard that name before but where? Damn, being a baby must mean I don't have all of my memories from my previous life right away doesn't it? The woman speaks again and the man before me I assume to be my father hums in thought trying to think of something. He then hums again as he gives me back to the other boy. He speaks to the woman again and I think they're throwing names around but I'm only paying attention to the boy again. He then looks up towards where the woman is and asks her a question I think. She exchanges words with her husband then she talks to the boy again. Now that I'm thinking about it actually this boy must be my older brother or something. This is kind of weird considering I was the eldest my last family.

He stared at me again long and hard. Then he smiled – it was really a nice thing to see on his face. He opened his mouth and spoke another name I believe.

"Uchiha, Mitsu," he said. Hey I've heard that name before too. I think I was looking up names for characters once because I loved writing fan-fiction with my friends and we'd needed a name for a series. I forget which one though. That name means 'light' I believe. Thinking back on it now; me getting this name in another life is kind of funny considering how I was going to use it for fan-fiction before. Actually I kind of feel like I'm in a fan-fiction right now. I can't help myself any longer.

I snorted then started laughing and it caused everyone in the room to pause. Finally I heard as the woman and the man start laughing with me as well as the boy while the woman started speaking to the boy once more through it all. He'd been surprised when I'd burst out like that but it's only natural. He then smiled at me and held me close.

"Mukaeru…Uchiha, Mitsu!" I don't know what he said but I think I've just been officially welcomed into the family. I never asked for a second chance at life but…let's see how it goes.

* * *

 ** _Itachi_**

I had waited outside with father like we'd been told. Apparently Mother was giving birth right now so we couldn't see her. Father had been late coming in because he'd been at work but he'd finally made it here regardless.

After a few hours of waiting we were finally called into the room. Mother sat on her hospital bed holding two babies just as I'd thought when she'd told me about it months ago. I'm not certain how I knew….I just knew. Mother spotted us and flagged us over.

"Come on over, it's time to say hello," she called quietly. Looking at her I could tell she was tired and exhausted. I wondered briefly if childbirth was really that taxing before I was distracted by my father placing a hand on my shoulder and leading me inside the room. Once we were beside the bed, I noticed both babies looked almost identical. Mother smiled at me.

"You were right Itachi," she said. "It's a boy and a girl. They're your little brother and sister." I approached, some excitement welling within me. I poked the boy's cheek first playfully and he didn't seem to mind just wiggled a bit to get comfy. Then I poked the girl's cheek and she tried to wiggle away from me causing my mother to chuckle. I tickled under her chin after a moment's hesitation and she did the same thing. I couldn't believe my eyes. Two new lives had been given.

My father came over and picked the boy up in his arms while mother shifted to gain a better grip on the girl. Soon though she turned to me with a smile.

"Would you like to hold your sister Itachi?" she asked. I didn't need to respond. I moved closer beside the bed and carefully took the baby in my arms. She was heavy but then so were the weights I trained with sometimes. Her eyes were closed but soon she was blinking them open and my black eyes stared right back into hers. She blinked at me a few times before I felt something staring into those depths. I didn't know what it was but somehow…I felt more connected to her in that moment. Even though her irises were black like a regular Uchiha's would be, they held so much more; a light that I'd never seen before. It made me curious about her.

However, father then handed the boy back to our mother and took the girl from me to look at her too. He bounced her like he'd done with the boy and mother smiled at the two.

"So have you thought of any names?" she asked. Father nodded.

"Yes, for the boy at least. I couldn't really think of anything for the girl. So for our boy, Sasuke, Sasuke Uchiha!" he stated. Mother seemed shocked.

"That's a nice name but it's…" Father just chuckled at her surprise.

"Yes, it's lord third's father's name. I've already asked lord third for permission," he said.

"I see," Mother replied. Father chuckled again as he bounced the little girl in his arms. I looked over at mother who now held Sasuke…my little brother.

"We shall raise him to never dishonor his name," Father declared. Mother nodded in agreement.

"So then, what about our girl? We'll have to name her too." Father brought her down from where he'd been holding her up to look at her more. While Sasuke was dozing off again she still had her eyes open.

"Hm," my father hummed as he thought. However, he couldn't seem to think of anything.

"Here Itachi," he told me as he handed her back to me. I took her back in my arms as he then turned to mother.

"I'm not much one to think of good girl names…do you have any ideas?" he wondered. Mother hummed in thought too as she rocked Sasuke in her arms.

"I had a list made of course. Let's see which ones I remember." They then began listing names but I wasn't really paying attention, I was instead staring at this little girl; this little life in my arms with wonder and some pride. The light I saw earlier in her eyes seemed to dance to its own rhythm and music. Suddenly I had an idea and spoke up.

"Mother, Father," I said getting their attention. "Could I name her?" I asked. Mother and Father exchanged a glance and a knowing look before Mother turned to me and smiled.

"Of course dear…what did you have in mind?" I looked down at the girl in my arms. I stared into her eyes some more. I couldn't explain it but…somehow there was more to the light I saw shining in her eyes. It was vibrant and colourful; it wanted to dance around. I wondered what could possibly mean light when suddenly it just…came to me. I couldn't help the smile that grew because of the light I saw. I knew the name I was thinking of would fit.

"Mitsu, Uchiha," I said softly. Mother and Father went silent thinking it over. But I continued staring at the baby I'd just name. It was if she'd heard me say it because I noticed the dancing light flared a bit. Then she snorted and started to laugh and squeal with delight, the light in her eyes dancing faster and merrily. I knew I'd chosen right. Suddenly I couldn't stop my own laughter and it caused Mother and Father to start. If I wasn't mistaken then Sasuke had stirred from his nap and sniggered the way only a baby could but I guess it didn't last long because he was tired. Mother soon caught her breath.

"It seems she likes it," she said with mirth. Father chuckled.

"Indeed and it fits the dancing light in her eyes," he stated. So I wasn't the only one who'd noticed.

"Oh so you noticed that too?" Mother asked. "There's some in Sasuke's eyes too but he's too tired right now it seems."

"I see," Father said. "Then I have a feeling that these two are very special. They're going to do great things someday." I smiled at that then turned back to Mitsu.

"Welcome…Mitsu Uchiha," I said. Father then picked her up and held her high with a smile.

"That's right, welcome to the world little one," he exclaimed. Mitsu wriggled giddily and giggled some more as she was brought down and held by Father. He nuzzled her cheek with his and she reached out a hand to touch his face. I stared in wonder at the scene for a bit. They're both just like I was back then…when I arrived I was like this.

Two new lives have been born…but that only raises the question I've been asking myself for a while now. What is life…and what is death? It's a puzzle that's been driving me crazy forever now and I wish I could find the answer somewhere in this shinobi world.

* * *

A day later is when Mother is allowed to leave the hospital so Auntie came to help out since Father was working late again at the police force headquarters. Meanwhile I couldn't stop thinking about that question. It plagues my mind day in and day out. As we're walking home, we run into the fourth hokage, walking about the village. Mother waves to him to get his attention.

"Oh, Minato hey!" she called. He notices her and smiles, coming over.

"Hello Mikoto…oh, it looks like you have two new additions," he stated taking notice of the babies in the stroller. He looks over them with a smile. Now that I think of it, his wife – Kushina I believe – is getting round around the belly like mom was. I wonder…are they going to have a baby too? Maybe two?

"What are their names?" he asked straightening. Mother smiled.

"The boy's name is Sasuke and the girl's name is Mitsu," she responded. Lord Fourth smiles.

"Those names are lovely. Did you happen to name Sasuke after Lord Third's father by any chance?" he wondered. Mother nodded.

"It was Fugaku's idea. Itachi meanwhile named Mitsu."

"Oh is that so?" He said amused then turned to regard me. He smiled at me.

"Hm, if I'm right then Mitsu means light right? Did you know this when you named her?" he wondered. I nodded.

"It's because of the light dancing in her eyes," I responded simply. He blinked and turned to Mother for confirmation. She nodded.

"There just seems to be something you notice when you gaze into her eyes. Of course we mean metaphorical light but there's just something there you can't miss. Oh but she's sleeping now so you won't be able to see…" Suddenly Mitsu started squirming and whining. She opened her eyes and looked up. Lord fourth leaned over with a smile to look at her.

"Well it looks like she's awake now," he stated. I watched as he looked into her eyes. Meanwhile I noticed her eyes widening and then she held this dumbfounded look on her face as though seeing the fourth had shocked her. I'm not too sure about it because I'm not really an expert on babies. However, the fourth seemed to stop short and see the same light most others could see. After a while he smiled and put his hand into the stroller, letting Mitsu grasp his finger and continue staring at him.

"I can tell she's got something special about her," he finally said. "It's almost like the will of fire's already burning inside of her." Mother beamed a smile at him.

"That means a lot coming from you Minato," she said. He smiled and nodded before straightening.

"Well, I'd better get back to the office before my assistant comes looking for me or worse tells my wife I was on a stroll away from work." He chuckled as did Mother and Auntie.

"Yes, no doubt Kushina would come after you herself to make you get back on the job. Good luck," she waved as he waved and left. Then we began walking back to the Uchiha compound and I couldn't help but wonder just what Lord Fourth saw in her eyes.

* * *

 ** _Kushina_**

"Aww, so cute!" I squealed as I finally got a glimpse at Mikoto's newborns myself. I'd wanted to see them sooner but with the watch the elders had on me due to my own pregnancy and its – ahem – fragile nature, I couldn't very well do so. Not to mention that I couldn't move as well with a huge bulge on my front once it started growing. I myself was excited for the birth of my own child although – heh – I was worried about the pain part of it all.

"So one's a boy and the other's a girl right?" I asked excitedly. Mikoto just nodded.

"That's right," she replied. She held up the baby she was holding in her arms. "This one is Sasuke and he's our boy and in the back carrier is Mitsu."

"Aww," I squealed again unable to help myself.

"Sasuke hm?" questioned Biwako Sarutobi, my escort on this fine day. "That's the name of Hiruzen's father correct?" Mikoto nodded.

"Yes, it was Fugaku's idea. Itachi named Mitsu," she stated.

"Oh," I said with amused fascination as I glanced up at the baby in the back carrier. However, instead of seeing a sleeping baby like before, she was staring at me with wide eyes. I gasped at how captivating they were. Minato had been right. There was just a sparkling light to them that seemed to dance. She stared at me some more and I couldn't help but smile.

"Good morning beautiful; have a nice nap?" I questioned. She just blinked at me. Biwako stepped forth and tickled her under the chin. She tried to move away but giggled slightly. Biwako smiled at the sight.

"Mitsu; a name that means light. Seeing how such a thing dances in those eyes, it's a perfect fit. Itachi knew what he was doing." I nodded in agreement. I smiled at her and Sasuke who was now awake too.

"Well, my son's name will be Naruto," I told them. "You'll all be classmates so make friends too okay?" I said cheerily. Sasuke stared at me in utmost curiosity a similar light dancing in his eyes. Must be a twin thing. Meanwhile, Mitsu stared then broke out into giggles and I smiled back. Then she started reaching for me and squirming in her seat. I felt I knew what she wanted. I turned to Mikoto.

"May I?" I asked. She nodded and I carefully lifted her out of her carrier. I smiled down at Mitsu and she smiled and giggled back. Then she grasped a few strands of my hair and just stared at it seemingly mesmerized by it. She clutched and unclutched her hand not making any moves to pull on it. I giggled.

"She must really like the colour red," I stated. Mikoto just chuckled.

"I'm not really sure actually. She and Sasuke seem interested in just about anything although Sasuke's less gentle and more excitable." I nodded still focused on Mitsu as she had begun lifting and dropping my hair from her upraised hand before repeating the motion again a few more times. Once she was satisfied she yawned and stretched and Biwako took her then placed her gently back into the carrier. She turned to me sternly.

"Kushina, I know babies are cute but aren't you forgetting you have a prior engagement?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow. I flinched slightly as I remembered.

"Oh…right," I said none too enthusiastically. Then I turned to Mikoto before I had to leave with a quivering look.

"By the way…does it really hurt?" I asked. Mikoto took the question in then laughed lightly.

"So…there is something that scares you eh Kushina?" she grinned playfully. I suppose I should've expected as much from my old rival. I groaned before feeling my hand being tugged. I was pulled away from Mikoto by Biwako and tugged down the street.

"Let's go Kushina. We haven't got time to dilly dally. It was nice talking to you Mikoto," she said. I sighed and turned to wave goodbye.

"See you later," I said. Mikoto waved back. As I went, I caught sight of Mitsu's eyes again and nearly froze. Even from this distance I could see the light in them but something was different. The way she looked at me was sad and fearful. It was as if she knew something I didn't. It unnerved me. As I was walking, Mikoto began to turn around and just as she was walking away, I felt a tug on my chakra and then a flash of an image in my head made me freeze.

I saw an image of my future son being threatened by a man in a mask with one eyehole showing a sharingan; a fiery explosion then…the nine tails rampaging against the village and eventually the same baby but with a seal on his belly crying in the night. Suddenly Biwako tugged on me again.

"Ow, not so rough," I yelped.

"Well if you would keep walking straight…" Biwako hinted. I sighed.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I just had this weird feeling all of a sudden and a slideshow to go with it," I stated. She harrumphed.

"It's probably just pre-labor jitters. Which reminds me…if your labor pains start, try not to scream out loud!" she sighed. I smiled sheepishly unsure of what to make of the statement.

"Oh…alright then," I agreed. As I walked with her tugging me to the safe spot where I would give birth, I couldn't help but have a sense of cautionary dread crawl up my spine. There was just something about Mitsu I couldn't define or get over. And then there'd been that look and that vision just now. I wonder what Minato would think?

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

It'd been only a few hours since we'd gotten home and it'd gotten dark outside. Mother was busy washing up leftover dirty dishes and Itachi was playing with me and Sasuke. Also…it would seem that after a while of being alive, my memories have slowly come back to me and in the past two months I've concluded the following.

A; I've been reborn into the word of Naruto – most every fangirl's dream. B; I am the twin sister of Sasuke Uchiha and younger sister to Itachi Uchiha – if our lives follow canon then that's a can of worms I'm not looking forward to seeing so no thank you. C; I am fairly confident that tonight's the night that Obito Uchiha is going to release and control the Nine Tailed demon fox Kurama – who currently resides in Kushina – upon the village which will cause trouble for our clan in the future. And D; of recent I have discovered that the weird energy stuff Sasuke and I had started playing around with in Mom's womb while we were in there unconsciously is in fact chakra and I seem to have some control over it already however small my reserves may be.

I can also sense nature energy too and that's helped a lot in my sensing capabilities. In fact earlier today I accidentally triggered my memories of the series of this point in time which weren't all pleasant while reaching out for Kushina with my chakra and wishing for her not to go to her death.

Welp, now that I've wrapped that up, back to the present. I still don't know how to speak Japanese but I have been able to pick out a few words and guess at their meaning. For example, I'm pretty sure 'iie' means no because mom keeps saying it whenever Sasuke or I try to put something random in our mouths. Yes I understand that's stupid but I'm a baby again and if I don't do something stupid warranting attention every now and again then how am I supposed to have any fun at this stage in my new life? I'm pretty sure I don't get to go to school until I'm six.

Oh but here's something else that's cool to talk about. Sasuke and I have a connection. It's not just because we're twins though. I think since we learned how to play with chakra some in mom's womb that we're able to communicate in the same way now. True he's no reincarnated person from some other world but somehow I've been able to get him to respond to some of my chakra fluxuation. We keep it secret from our parents though – unspoken agreement – because we know they'd be either too shocked or too overwhelmed with pride to speak and I don't think boosting dad's ego is going to help him run a clan. But either way I feel like this will give us a trump card for our future.

Itachi wiggles his finger in front of Sasuke and Sasuke happily takes it, giggling and having fun with everything new around him. He fluxes his chakra in my direction to let me know how much fun he's having. If I weren't a baby I'd probably roll my eyes at how simple minded he was being. But then again, he didn't have all of the memories I had from a previous life. Itachi then starts wiggling his other finger in front of my face. I giggle – he can't tell it's supposed to be mischievous giggling heh, heh – and grasp it like Sasuke did only while Itachi goes back to Sasuke, I manage to stick his finger in my mouth getting it all slobbery. I give a chakra fluxuation to Sasuke that means 'look at this, it's funny' and watch as Sasuke turns his head and giggles as Itachi retracts his finger.

"Mitsu," he groans yet chuckles and Sasuke and I start laughing like crazy. Then Sasuke attempts the same things with his other finger but Itachi catches on fast and saves his other index finger from baby slobber. I burst out giggling again as does Sasuke. Itachi meanwhile sighs and talks to us fondly. I imagine he's asking if we think this is funny and I burst out laughing again with Sasuke right behind. Then his eyes cloud over and I can tell he's thinking philosophical thoughts again.

He starts talking to Mother distractedly. Then she talks back and I wonder what they're saying. A small fluxuation from Sasuke lets me know he's wondering the same thing. He might not understand much but he can understand that he can't understand what's going on sometimes and is always itching to discover and learn something new. Unfortunately I have no clue what they're saying either so I return that message.

A while later, mom leaves to do stuff and Sasuke and I are being watched by Itachi. He plays with us a bit more before feeding us then himself. After that, Sasuke and I settle down since it's late and Itachi sits with us underneath a full moon on our back porch. Sasuke is in his arms being held by a sash and I'm in the baby backpack carrier. I'm still a little on edge because of earlier but I just hope nothing bad happens. It might be the world of Naruto but it's also a world in which I now live and I can still hope.

I feel a chakra fluxuation from Sasuke and look down at him while Itachi's busy observing the sky. Even though a baby, Sasuke can still emit his emotions through his eyes. I see he's worried about my uneasiness. I send a fluxuation back to let him know not to worry about it unless I give him a sign.

However, our conversation is cut short as we suddenly feel a foreign feeling of foreboding being passed along on the wind at the same time. I can tell who's behind it even if it's not exactly chakra. I look back at Sasuke and he tells me with his chakra he wants to see mother and father. I let him know they're busy and we should get out of here. Then he starts to squirm and whine to get Itachi's attention.

Itachi tries to soothe him back to sleep with a lullaby mother sometimes sings to us before bed or to calm us down. He knows the words. So do I but I don't understand them. I start playing with Itachi's hair as I've often done before but this time I gently tug on the strands which surprises him and causes him to turn to me. He sees my eyes and mirrors the worry. Suddenly a chilling breeze blows across the yard and clouds pass over the moon above. Itachi turns to the wind and the sky seeking answers.

He speaks but I don't understand him. Even so, I understand that he's probably asking himself out loud what the feeling he's feeling is. Sasuke then begins crying and I can tell he's scared. I am too but I choose to remain silent and try to get the message across. Gah, this would be so much easier if my vocal chords were more developed and I could understand their language.

Itachi tries to soothe Sasuke again but it's not working. Suddenly, we feel a terrible pressure, meaning a lot of chakra has appeared here and since the Nine Tails is made of chakra I know it's Kurama under the control of Obito. An earth shattering roar sounded throughout the village and the earth began to quake. The attack had begun.

Itachi immediately got up to take us somewhere safe; all the while Sasuke cried terrified out of his little mind as Itachi tried to keep him calm. I tried not to cry myself to give Itachi less hassle while Sasuke kept sending me messages that he was terrified and not understanding what was happening. I tried to tell him we were safe with our big brother but that did little to soothe him. Once outside, the danger got scarier.

People were running and screaming while rocks and debris flew everywhere. I watched terrified as my home was being torn to pieces by the flying carnage. A giant chunk of earth landed behind us sending us falling to the ground with the shockwave. My head bonked Itachi's and Itachi found himself on his knees while Sasuke cried and fluxed that it had hurt. I responded with an 'I know' fluxuation and whined against the pain while Itachi tried to soothe us. As he stood and I looked around I was about ready to start crying. Everyone who'd been running away from the flying debris had been killed and we were the only three survivors. Shit, this is scarier than being shot then stabbed to death by a madman.

As Itachi ran through the compound with us, we heard shouts and screams along with snarls and growls from the beast itself in the distance. Not to mention Sasuke and I found it hard to breathe with the menacing chakra in the air. I found it harder though because my chakra sense was stronger than his.

As we ran, I sensed another flying rock. It was headed straight for us but Itachi hadn't noticed. I cursed my inability to speak and just pulled his locks super hard. He looked back in time to see the rock and dodged like the Uchiha in training he was – which was like a pro.

We continued down a few more streets, seeing a few remaining survivors of our clan running towards the exit. It was then I noticed the girl in the alleyway crying and tugged Itachi's hair again. He stopped and turned receiving the message loud and clear. He yelled out to her and she stopped her crying and turned to see him. He held out his hand and yelled out again.

She wiped her tears and began to run towards us – just in time too – as a giant piece of debris flew into the wall where she'd just been standing. Itachi caught her and maneuvered us to avoid the flying pieces of wood. My eyes shut tight to avoid getting dust in them.

After, Itachi straightened and helped the girl up to her feet. If I remember right then her name is Izumi Uchiha I believe. She's also a part of the clan and as everyone in the fandom believes; Itachi's ideal love interest. I'd snicker or even giggle at that revelation if I wasn't close to pissing myself right now. I've actually been trying to potty train myself so I can help Sasuke out with it later. Not to mention that in a situation like this, wetting myself and being uncomfortable later did not sound like fun. I already knew the displeasure of a dirty diaper thank you.

Itachi spoke to the girl abruptly then began running towards the exit like everyone else with her trailing behind latched onto his shirt. Eventually we met up with some other people making their way to whatever shelter was supposed to offer us sanctuary. Along the way, I caught sight of our father helping with the evacuation of civilians. Apparently so did Itachi because he shared a few quick words with Izumi and ran us over to where he was.

He called our father's attention and he spoke with Itachi. I think he told us to go to the shelter. Itachi agreed and began heading in that direction but as we left I tried reaching out to my father. Somehow I had this feeling it would do good. Suddenly my mind was barraged with memories of the nine tails attack from the other side of the screen. Minato forced apart from Kushina; The man with the mask wielding the sharingan and taking over the nine tails; Minato eventually fighting the man and winning; mentions of Madara and finally the sealing of the fox within a baby Naruto on an altar.

As Itachi ran with us, I turned my head and caught my first glimpse of Kurama. He was huge and very powerful. I couldn't tell if he was still under Obito's control or not but either way he looked pissed. I suppose I could sympathize with him. If people kept telling me I was meant to be controlled and used as a weapon I'd probably rampage through a village too. However, I doubt that Kurama would do that willy nilly; it's not really his style.

Suddenly, as the beast batted another attack away, He suddenly turned in my direction and my heart nearly dropped. Even though we were a distance apart I felt his eyes boring into me. It didn't feel like the sharingan was staring at me through his eyes though. He seemed to pause for a moment just staring at me and I had to wonder what warranted his attention on me. Experimentally I reached out with my chakra although I knew it wouldn't go that far but since he was a huge being with a larger range chakra sense I was hoping that would be enough. A while later, after the best had batted away more attacks aimed for him, he turned back to me seemingly with some kind of surprise.

Then I felt his chakra. It came to me and touched my senses nearly suffocating me with its potency. Suddenly my eyes widened as I saw flashes of his childhood past flash through my mind; a past I'd never seen before. It was night and he was wandering about; crying silently and alone. Another day showed him slightly older trying to run from people who were attacking him just trying to understand why his father's wishes weren't being fulfilled. The memories halted after a while. Then a voice entered my head; a really deep and menacing one.

 ** _'Who are you?'_** he wondered and I strangely had no answer. Meanwhile, I wasn't alone in hearing his voice. Sasuke had heard it too and he was now asking me who was talking. The distraction was enough for Kurama to miss the actions of the third hokage for then he was brutally pushed back by a giant staff of some sort. I winced with the fox as he was hit wondering if it'd at least hurt a little and I could feel Sasuke do the same thing.

Soon they were too far away and Kurama was out of the village. Meanwhile, Itachi had turned down some more streets and we'd met up with Izumi again. Eventually we'd made it to the safety shelter. We filed in after everybody else and found a spot. Sometime later we felt Kurama's chakra disappear though some traces remained in the air.

Unlike last time, Sasuke didn't cry. Instead, he used our method of communication to ask a simple question. 'What happened to him?' Once again I didn't know how to answer so I just told him to calm down and go to sleep. He whined and cried a bit for food and was fed when some people came around offering milk to the babies. Then after he'd had his share, he relaxed in Itachi's arms and I relaxed too not realizing I'd been holding Itachi's shirt in a death grip all night long.

As I too drifted off into sleep, I couldn't help but wonder…what with my ability with chakra already developed and what I'd done with Kurama tonight…just what can of worms had I opened now?

At the time…neither of us had noticed the tiny pieces of red chakra that had latched themselves onto our own.


	3. The Ripple Effect

**_Mitsu_**

The funeral for the fallen of the attack was held a week later. There still had to be damage control but for the time being, everyone was finally there and accounted for amongst the living…and the dead. Sasuke and I remained quiet because of the general atmosphere surrounding us full of the grieving. However, my curiosity was peaked and so I spent the majority of it looking around for familiar faces in the crowd from the series.

I recognized Iruka Umino who was weeping for the loss of his parents. I noticed Kurenai and Asuma Sarutobi along with Might Gai. I saw a few more like Ebisu, Kakashi – the mask gave him away – and even Mizuki – the traitor who'd get justice served to him in due time. We just had to be patient.

The third Hokage I recognized because of his attire and I even noticed Jiraiya – the perverted sage – standing off to the side. As my curious eyes roved, I didn't quite hear or even pay attention to the words of mourning. I know that might sound disrespectful of me but I still felt off about the whole incident myself and the fact I'd once died too made my mind wonder how my own funeral would've gone. I know I'd been ready and willing back then but it still made me want to cry whenever I remembered my last life. Goodbyes in general were hard. Oh and let's not forget that I couldn't understand the language to save my life at the moment.

My eyes finally fell upon the front where the symbol for the fire country stood in the cemetery and upon that stone's base sat a basket with a baby bundled up in blankets. A tuft of blonde hair poked out from within the basket and I had no doubts that on his cheeks were the whisker birthmarks. It couldn't be anybody else except for Naruto Uzumaki. I let my eyes rove the crowd once more until they fell on Kakashi again. I stared at him for a little bit before deciding to move on when I noticed something off. I leaned out for a better view, my mother who was holding me adjusting me on her hip so I wouldn't fall. I saw brown hair with purple markings on cheeks standing next to him and my eyes widened.

It was Rin from team Minato. But she was supposed to be dead right? I wonder how she's still around. Suddenly a flash of movement caught my eye and I turned to see Itachi who was holding Sasuke looking behind us at the graves. I bet he was wondering at the meaning of life again. Unfortunately that was a question that not even the greatest of philosopher's had been able to agree on in my last life. Even I had troubles contemplating it and the whole reincarnation into another world thing was throwing me for a loop.

Suddenly I felt my mother shift and I turned to look around. The funeral seemed to be ended as everyone stopped standing still and mourning and one by one began to part ways. Soon we were walking away from the grave site towards the exit. Mother handed me off to Itachi in the back pack carrier and sent us back towards the district. Meanwhile she had to go out to get groceries. I dozed off along the way and soon found myself standing in the middle of the compound outside. I leaned my head on Itachi's shoulder blade and snoozed, listening to the sounds around me.

"Itachi-Kun!" I heard a girl's voice exclaim. I lifted my head some to see Izumi from the other night approaching. She stopped near us having gained Itachi's attention. Then the two began to speak and I had to assume this was the part where she was thanking him for saving her. However as usual he was blunt and straight forward with his reply. Suddenly I sensed stirring and noticed that Sasuke who'd been snoozing too was now awake and staring at the girl warily. For some reason it made me think that his anti-fangirl senses were already kicking in. Izumi noticed him first and looked down.

She talked to Itachi again and he answered once again bluntly with a 'no' in Japanese. However, she blew him off as being ridiculous and went ahead picking up Sasuke. Big mistake! See unless I do something like that first then Sasuke's more withdrawn and throws a fit just like he's doing right now. He went into full on baby freak out as soon as he was out of Itachi's arms. Itachi quickly took him back and I gave him my best baby deadpan expression asking 'really?' with my chakra. He replied with 'I don't know her' and I couldn't help bursting into giggles. This drew Izumi's gaze to me.

Itachi talked to her again – probably apologizing for Sasuke's rudeness – and then he turned to offer me to her instead. I eagerly stretched out my arms to be picked up and she took the invitation. She cooed and giggled at me while she tickled my belly making me laugh. Then I did what I usually did when picked up by other girls or anyone with long hair, I started playing with her hair gently to get extra baby cuteness points. It was a little game Sasuke and I played to see which one of us could get the most attention and even though he was just a baby like me, he was super competitive. So it was no surprise that when my turn was done, he started making a fuss wanting her to pick him up again to do his own thing.

He had this thing where he tried to play with the person's face. I didn't do it because it was disrespectful but seeing as how he didn't know what that meant, he was perfectly fine with playing smooshy face with whoever was holding him. I had to admit though it had its own kind of charm that earned him points. I of course was the only one really keeping score. Eventually, Izumi gave Sasuke back and she and Itachi exchanged a few words before they parted ways. I could tell Sasuke and I had just made her day.

Later that day, mother returned home and got us ready to go out. Today was a day for our daily checkups. I was put in the stroller alongside of Sasuke who wasn't looking forward to it. We'd have to get a needle no doubt and he was nervous if his chakra fluxes were any indication. I'd have to go first to make it quick and painless. After all I'd learned how to use my chakra to numb the pain since the last time.

We arrived sooner than expected; Sasuke having dozed off along the way. While he snoozed, I went in first and made a cutesy scene for the nurses. Eventually I was given back with a perfect health report. When it was Sasuke's turn he threw a fuss with mom having to help calm him down and hold him in place for the doctors. When he came back also in perfect health he had a sour look on his face. After a while though the pouty pants was fast asleep again.

On our way out, we passed by a few rooms that housed some of our injured clansmen and mom's friends. We greeted – or rather Itachi and mom greeted – and spoke with the ones who were awake and Sasuke and I were allowed to be held by some of them. I didn't mind it as it gave me a chance to earn more cutesy points. However, we came to one room that housed a patient that shouldn't have been there.

When we entered, I saw Rin and Kakashi there – I'm absolutely positive it's Rin now. I wondered why they'd be there while the grownups talked but soon I got my answer I was lifted into the arms of the bed's occupant.

I stared with shock into the face of Obito Uchiha. I just didn't know how to take the fact that he was well…alive and here and…probably not the one who caused the nine tail's attack. I was just so confused. Of course then he decides to act like a complete goofball trying to get my attention with wild actions he probably shouldn't have been performing with his injuries. Eventually I just stared at him with an unamused face.

It didn't take long for him to turn to Kakashi and start complaining in Japanese. Mom was laughing; trying to suppress it with a hand and Itachi was giving him weird looks. I'd have rolled my eyes at his scene if I didn't already know that's probably what every other Uchiha would do. I wasn't about to fall into a family pattern.

Anyways, the argument between Obito and Kakashi ended with Obito practically shoving me into Kakashi's arms. The flustered and annoyed guy didn't exactly know what to do with me and I was tempted to laugh. I tried to hold it in though. Bad idea though as something else came out that I'm not proud of – okay maybe a little. What…you can't blame me for not having proper control over my bowels at this stage in life.

Nevertheless, the sound then the stink that rose made Kakashi cringe and I couldn't stop the laughter that erupted from within me. It got Sasuke goin' too which made me worse knowing this guy was one day going to be his teacher. Obito meanwhile was losing his head with us while Rin and Mikoto were holding their sides. Itachi found it amusing too but tried to hide his laughter.

I heard Kakashi grumble something as he slowly tried to hand me back to Obito. He took me back carefully and spoke to me with such a cheery disposition that I couldn't help agreeing with him by giggling and laughing as he did. Sasuke clapped his hands excitedly baby style while bouncing in mom's arms. I heard him congratulate me. _'Good one'_ he spoke with his chakra and I couldn't have agreed more.

After a while which included a diaper change for me and goodbyes to Obito and his team, we were on our way down another hallway when all of a sudden we stopped before a large window. Turning in Itachi's arms to look at it, I could see it was an incubation room with many babies laid out and sleeping peacefully. One however caught my eye; the same one my mother was looking at.

Naruto lay there sleeping soundly in his own incubator. His hands were splayed out and his soft face was so peaceful. Mother and I were staring at him for some time. Then I watched as he stirred in his sleep and his piercing blue eyes opened. He seemed like he was about to start crying but I reached out with my chakra much the same I would do with Sasuke to soothe him if he were sad; using some nature energy to help with the flow and it worked. He then turned towards the window and I heard my mother whisper something sadly. However my focus was on the baby staring straight back at me, curiosity peaked.

Soon though we were walking down the hallway again until we could no longer see him. I had a feeling though that if mom had been braver and the clan wasn't in the spot it was now, she probably would've adopted him in a heartbeat and I'd have three brothers. It would definitely be livelier. As we leave I can't help but wonder…what if?

* * *

 ** _Fugaku_**

I sat stoically at the meeting for the clan heads. I had a bad feeling about all of this. It'd started with that vision I'd had on the night of the attack – about the fourth fighting a man who possessed the clan's treasured sharingan. It'd been odd and out of nowhere but for some reason, I'd gotten the feeling it wasn't a lie.

"The nine tails attack caused devastation throughout the village. For the reconstruction, we've decided to revise a number of the village's boundaries," spoke Danzo over a map of the leaf laid out over the table. He used a pointer to point to a section of the map.

"We'd like the Aburame clan to move into this district. The clan previously submitted a request to occupy the forest, so we took that into consideration." The space indeed covered a lot of the forest space we had. No doubt to help house their infamous insects.

"The Nara clan's territory was not part of the stricken area, so they will remain where they are." The pointer began to move again.

"The Leaf Police Force headquarters which sustained damage will be rebuilt here!" I watched the pointer land on an area in the farthest reaches of the village. So that was his game.

"And the Uchiha Clan will move along with the headquarters…"

To be honest, if it hadn't been for the vision I'd had I would've been more bothered by such a rash decision as they were so obviously blaming us for what had happened and were being cautious by keeping us in an area to be watched. However, if someone from the clan really had betrayed the Leaf that night by freeing the nine tails from within Kushina then used it to attack for whatever reason; I honestly had to agree with their decision.

However, it wouldn't bode over well with the clan elders or many others and I couldn't just explain that someone was a traitor no; it would only leave room for discord to settle, tearing the clan apart at the seams. Not to mention the only proof I held was a vision, a visual one of my men had seen when I'd sent them to check on Lord Fourth just in case and Lord Fourth's message he'd sent to me with explicit instructions. Meanwhile the attacker may not even be in the village anymore. He could've faked his death then slipped away unnoticed. Then again someone could've stolen the eye and implanted it within himself by some method. It was all one really annoying puzzle.

I also couldn't mention anything about it at this meeting since Danzo would likely jump at the chance to be rid of us. The crafty old man hadn't been fond of us from the beginning and while many others shared similar sentiments because of Madara from the past, they weren't as strong with the peace we'd upheld thus far. I just hoped those who might not understand as much would trust my judgement in allowing this and respect my authority. After all, if we were to be watched then perhaps if the rat was still among us then the ANBU could help sniff him out. Of course though, I'd be asking for the Third's assistance in the matter for I didn't trust Root as far as I could throw them.

I simply nodded my consent and allowed Danzo to move on to the rest of the clan placements. Meanwhile some of the other Clan heads seemed to glance my way with suspicion. I however ignored them. Let them stare at me with mistrust for now. I'd prove to them that the Uchiha weren't all rotten eggs.

When the meeting finally came to a close I approached the Hokage as he was leaving with the elders.

"Lord Third," I spoke up. "I'd like to speak with you if I may?" I asked. The hokage turned to me then smiled warmly and nodded.

"Of course Fugaku; what is it?" he asked. I glanced over to Danzo who was looking at me warily. I then turned back to the hokage.

"I would like to request a meeting with you at some point if you have the time. It's rather important regarding the previous incident." The third's eyes hardened with understanding at the seriousness of the request.

"I see," he said simply. Danzo scoffed.

"Surely you could simply tell the old man here and now?" he stated implying I was hiding something. I turned my head slightly with annoyance.

"I would love to…however…it's a last request from Minato before he died. He sent a messenger toad to me and asked that this message only be trusted to the Third Hokage. It's not my decision." I stated. Danzo didn't seem to believe or trust me and nor did the elders that much. However, I knew that Lord Third would trust me. He bowed his head in thought.

"Also, he requested that Lord Jiraiya of the Sanin, Shikaku of the Nara Clan and all of team Minato to be present!" Lord third nodded then met my gaze.

"Very well!" he agreed. "Head home and I will contact you and the following once I've found an appropriate location." I bowed my head.

"Yes lord Hokage," I agreed. Then I left the room, the piercing eyes of the elders' council on me.

* * *

I got home rather late that night. The majority of our home had been destroyed but by now the rubble was cleared and we had tents set up. I would have to call a clan meeting to inform the others of the situation. They weren't going to like this.

I entered our partly tarped kitchen to see that Mikoto was making dinner with the help of a mobile kitchen set. She turned as I entered.

"Oh, back so soon? Did the meeting go well?" she asked. I couldn't help but smile as she always seemed to know how to brighten my day without really trying. I wrapped her in a warm embrace from behind and kissed her on the jawline.

"Something like that," I sighed. "We've been relocated," I told her. She smiled.

"Oh and where are we going?" she wondered.

"I'll tell you and everyone else at the clan meeting tonight," I told her. She hummed in thought.

"Hm…something else is on your mind too. I can tell!" She could read me so well despite my lack of outer emotions. I sighed again.

"It's complicated," I said. "Right now, it seems we're being put in the spotlight and I doubt that will sit too well with the elders. I'm just trying to think of a way to make it less problematic than I know it's going to be." She hummed again, tasting the sauce she'd prepared.

"Well, I can try to help if you'll let me," she suggested. I nodded.

"Yes but something tells me you'd end up choosing the Kushina way to deal with things."

"And what's wrong with that?" she teased. I chuckled.

"Let's just say that the 'Red Hot Habanero's' way of handling things isn't quite so diplomatic."

"Psh, who needs diplomacy," she teased. I let a short laugh escape me. Then we leaned in to kiss one another before I straightened.

"Where are the kids?" I wondered. She smirked then led me down one of the hallways into the living room. I smiled at the sight. Itachi had fallen asleep on his back on the floor with Sasuke resting on his chest from one side while Mitsu occupied his other side and his arms wrapped around them protectively. Mikoto snickered.

"I've already got one for the photo album," she whispered. "They're just too cute!" I nodded smiling. Then my eyes roved over to Mitsu. Despite her being only a few months old, I couldn't help but feel there was so much more to her than met the eye.

For starters, one time I'd had my sharingan activated out of curiosity while she and Sasuke had been playing and I'd noticed the two were unconsciously exchanging chakra. A baby's chakra coils were too frail to do such a thing but theirs were stronger than most; more developed and able to let chakra flow naturally not only between each other but with things and people they'd come into contact with, with the help of nature energy.

Then there'd been that vision. I was certain that Mitsu had somehow been the cause of it. The chakra I'd felt was small yet it held power and it'd triggered images to appear within my mind as Itachi had walked off taking them to the shelter. I believed it was her chakra. I was going to bring this up at the meeting with lord third to see about getting his opinion on the matter.

"Oh, did you hear?" Mikoto asked suddenly from beside me still whispering. I turned to her.

"Hm?" I replied.

"Obito's due to leave the hospital either today or tomorrow. He should be back on his feet in no time!" I nodded.

"Someone should tell him about his father," I said quietly. She nodded sadly.

"I thought we could have a nice meal together to cheer him up after." I sighed but agreed. "We'll invite all of team Minato for moral support…and I just know he'll love playing with Mitsu and Sasuke. They'll be able to bring some light back to his eyes again." I chuckled. "What?"

"It's funny you mention light regarding those two," I spoke quietly. "I don't think anybody else has realized it yet unless they've seen it for themselves but…those two have something else going for them especially Mitsu!" She chuckled by me ear.

"Yes, I'll have to agree with you on that!" she said. "They're really something special." I nodded before turning to peck her on the cheek.

"I'm going to get ready for the meeting," I said as I headed to our make shift bedroom. Tonight was going to be – in the words of the Nara – quite troublesome.

* * *

 ** _Obito_**

'Achoo!' I wiped at my nose annoyed. "Great; just absolutely fantastic; it's typical! I get outta the hospital and now I've gotten a cold!" I sneezed again with an annoyed scowl painted on my face.

"Well it is Mid October. It's chillier than usual," Rin pointed out beside me.

"Besides, you don't know if it's a cold. Just a few sneezes; it could just mean your allergies are acting up!" Kakashi stated making me scowl harder.

"Yeah well I say it's a cold!" I huffed. "I think I know me more than you do!" He snorted slightly trying to hold back some laughter at my expense.

"I agree with Kakashi. If anything you're just being over dramatic!" Rin sighed. I turned to her this time with a pout on my features.

"But Rin," I whined. "You always side with him!"

"Because he doesn't make a big fuss out of something so minor and simple," she returned. I harrumphed and crossed my arms, turning to glare at my rival.

"Stupid scarecrow!" I muttered under my breath.

"Enough of that now," Kakashi demanded coolly. "We're here," he stated. Then the atmosphere within our group descended into a state of slight tension. I glanced to see he was right. We were right in front of the stairs that led up into the cemetery. I sighed then gulped. I hadn't been able to attend the funeral since I'd been bedridden and unconscious in that hospital bed after the attack. But today was the day I'd be able to visit both my master and his wife along with…my father.

Fugaku, our clan head, had told me about my father's fall not to the nine tails but…rather to the masked man we'd gone to investigate. Fugaku's vision about the masked man had been correct. We'd been able to pinpoint his location and followed him after he'd left lord fourth at the end of their battle. We'd been told he could possibly be the reason behind the attack. I'd gone with my father to aid him since he was growing old with age and we knew not who this enemy was.

When we'd encountered him, despite his lesser reserves of chakra from controlling the nine tails and fighting Minato sensei, he'd still gained the advantage despite our numbers being greater. It'd been terrifying for not only had he had the sharingan but he also possessed the mangekyo sharingan. I'm not quite sure what the ability itself was but one thing was for certain, it made it harder to land a hit on him. Near the end of the battle we were certain he was an Uchiha but that had been when one of his attacks had knocked me unconscious. The next time I woke was within the hospital.

We'd climbed the stairs to the cemetery and were now approaching their graves. It made my stomach churn somewhat, thinking that I'd lost not only my father but my sensei and surrogate mother figure as well. Once there, we stared down at the names for a moment until finally Rin broke out into a pained smile.

"Good morning Minato Sensei; Lady Kushina," she greeted. "We finally got Obito out of the hospital to come and see you. We also brought some offerings for you. Here!" She then went about laying out some special onigiri she'd made along with a small bowl of steaming ramen. I gulped as I stepped forth.

"Hey there…Sensei," I started. "Heh, funny meeting you here…like this…" I trailed off not knowing what else to say.

"The team's all here," Kakashi spoke quietly. "Well…most of it anyway!" There was a heavy silence as we just stood there silently. Only Rin seemed to know what to do. She chuckled lightly as she held her hands clasped in prayer.

"Well that's Obito and Kakashi for ya," she said. "Two boys who don't know how to emit their feelings with words. Oh well…I guess we couldn't exactly expect much else. Oh and Lady Kushina, don't worry about these two, especially Obito. I promise to look after them and keep them out of trouble as often as I'm able!" she giggled slightly at that despite the silent tears that left her eyes. I sighed and turned away.

"Yeah…I guess you don't have to worry that much," I said quietly. I sighed and began to move away.

"I'll see ya later. Right now…I'm gonna go see my old man!" I started walking away, Kakashi deciding to follow me and Rin too after finishing her prayers. I trekked through the cemetery looking for his stone and soon found it among other Uchiha of our clan who'd perished.

I stared down at that stone for a while before kneeling down and putting my offering on top of it. I closed my eyes and entered a silent prayer, my friends waiting silently behind me. Just like with Minato sensei and Kushina, I didn't have much to say. I felt awkward especially knowing from lord Fugaku that he'd been the one to sacrifice himself for me. We may not have always gotten along and he'd sometimes hit me for doing something idiotic and so on but I know he'd loved me and that was all that I really cared about.

Finally once I was done, I stood and walked off stoically without showing any emotion like the typical Uchiha would. But even I couldn't stop the silent tears that escaped my eyes. I felt kind of empty inside knowing I'd lost people who were close to me. Of course then I knew the world didn't revolve all around me. After all…I hadn't been the only one to suffer.

As we walked through the village later, I was lost in thought. I remembered passing by the front desk yesterday morning and witnessing an argument going on.

 _'Flashback'_

 _"What!? Are you insane? Why would you continue to let it live let alone give it to me!?" cried a woman. I stopped what I was doing which was filling out some forms for my release._

 _"The simple answer is that it was Lord Fourth's final wishes. Besides we can't possibly keep it here! This is a hospital for healing. You're in charge of the orphanage so now it's your responsibility!"_

 _"But I don't understand," the first woman tried to protest. "Why would Lord Fourth want it to live after everything it's done? Not to mention you're practically throwing it in with other children it could probably pick it's teeth with! Just tell me what on earth is Lord Third thinking going through with this?" The woman she was arguing with – a nurse – shrugged casually._

 _"Beats me but he did make it clear. Starting today the thing is to be cared for as if it were a human child. Maybe they thought we could tame it?"_

 _"Tame it my ass!" the orphanage owner shot back. "As if the nine tails could ever be tamed!"_

 _"Shh! Are you crazy!?" the nurse demanded looking about frantically. She then lowered her voice._

 _"Didn't you hear? It's been decreed that no one is to speak of the nine tails to those ignorant of the events of that night. That means that starting now, you're not allowed to speak of it either…especially to the beast itself! It could set off a chain reaction!" The Orphanage owner shrunk up slightly thinking some almighty wrath awaited her just for defying a decree she hadn't heard about yet._

 _"Oh…sorry," she apologized. Eventually she just sighed. "Fine, I'll take it but I don't have to like it!" The nurse nodded handing over some paperwork to the owner to fill out._

 _"I agree. You can raise it to be like us but…don't forget what it's done and don't treat it like us either!"_

 _"Once a monster; always a monster," the owner agreed as she'd begun filling out her forms. Meanwhile, I felt my whole body shaking with anger. I knew who they were talking about and I knew where their hatred was directed. I think I heard my pencil snap._

 _'End Flashback'_

As I thought back on that moment yesterday, my face developed a frown as I glared into the sky. Rin seemed to have noticed for she pointed out my behaviour.

"Obito what's wrong?" she asked. Kakashi also glanced at me but I barely paid them any attention. Instead I answered her question with a question.

"So…what do you two think will happen to Naruto?" I wondered. They exchanged looks.

"What do you mean?" Rin asked. Kakashi just sighed.

"So you're going to start that again huh?" he questioned. Yesterday if it hadn't have been for Kakashi showing up I probably would've jumped those ladies and told em what's what without thinking. It just irked me to no end the way they kept referring to sensei's kid as an 'it'. I gritted my teeth.

"I can't help it," I stated. "I swear if things weren't the way they are now with the Uchiha then…I'd probably take him in myself but lord Fugaku made it clear that's not the smart thing to do now." Kakashi scoffed.

"Oh please…you trying to raise a kid would be a disaster! I think you should let someone else worry about that!" I turned to him with anger dancing in my eyes.

"How can you say that Kakashi?" I demanded. "So what; you think we should just leave him get hurt by the village. You know what'll happen don't you?" He nodded.

"Yes, they'll ostracize him like what the majority will start doing to your clan while it'd under suspicion. It's not like it can be helped but I also didn't say we'd outright abandon him either. I said you'd be a bad parent!" I faltered then got right in his face.

"Oh yeah and how would you know!?" I demanded. He glanced at me with that lazy eye of his.

"Would you like the list in alphabetical order or just at random?" he jibed. Rin just sighed on my other side.

"Would you two put a sock in it?" she asked. "C'mon Kakashi, you know Obito's only thinking of Naruto's wellbeing and Obito," she turned to me with a deadpanned expression. "He's right; you'd be a bad influence!" I faltered again and suddenly felt depressed as the girl of my dreams agreed with my rival.

"Rin why are you so cold to me?" I wondered dramatically. She just sighed.

"Look, to tell the truth, none of us could take him either, especially when we don't understand Minato Sensei's and Lady Kushina's wishes for him. Then there's the fact that we're still young and inexperienced in the parenting department. While you'd be too carefree and fun, Kakashi would probably be too strict and awkward. Then there's me…" she trailed off as she thought about it. Immediately I tried to get on her good side.

"Hey wait, I think you'd be a great parent!" I declared. She glanced at me sheepishly and averted her eyes somewhat with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Yeah, maybe when I'm ready for it but…Minato Sensei's kid isn't my own and quite honestly I'd be at my wits end trying to raise him while earning income as a shinobi. I just wanna give him a life he deserves but I also don't want to hamper it." I pouted.

"So then you agree he's better off with someone who hates him instead of people who would care for him even if they'd be inexperienced?" I pointed out. She hung her head.

"Well when you put it like that…" she started glumly. I however would not be defeated by the likes of ostracism. I turned forwards with a confident smile.

"Alright then!" I cried out. "I suppose I have no choice. I'll talk to Lord Third and get him to make me Fifth Hokage! Then I'll decree that Naruto is a hero and he should be worshipped like a god for being so damn strong he can hold back that much chakra. We'll see how everybody feels when they learn whose kid he is too! They'll be begging for autographs by the time he's old enough to write his name!" I felt so proud of my idea to get Naruto into the people's good graces that I almost missed what Kakashi said next.

"Are you stupid!?" he asked. I turned to him angrily.

"What'd you say?" I demanded. He looked at me with his one eye that spoke with so much meaning it could be terrifying sometimes. Right now he looked mad at me for some reason.

"I asked if you were stupid?" he repeated and I was about to continue ranting before he cut me off. "Don't get me wrong. I've come to respect your ideals and your dream of becoming hokage but what you just said makes it obvious you still have a long way to go before that can become a reality!

"You face many problems with what you just said. First of all, we're all still recovering from the nine tails attack and a lot of suspicion has been placed on your clan since their mangekyo sharingan can control the beast. Despite your good intentions, if you were to become hokage now, it'd be seen as the whole clan making a power move against the village furthering suspicion and creating unrest between the other clans. It could break out into a civil war.

"Secondly, just because you become hokage, it doesn't mean everything you say will be regarded and respected. It also won't change the way the people see Naruto as the demon. If anything it'll only add to the fire of the village's mistrust of your clan. Finally…even if he hadn't been made the vessel, making Naruto's identity as sensei's kid known would be idiotic. Not only would the village treat him as merely a figurehead but sensei also has many enemies in the other nations especially Iwagakure and they'd jump at the chance to either kill or kidnap his son. You'd be painting a target on his back and sensei would probably get ticked off!" I stopped to think over everything he'd just said.

The fact was…Kakashi was right. I suppose I just wasn't thinking clearly on the matter. Not only was what I'd said idiotic but it could probably harm Naruto more than help him. I sighed dejectedly and hung my head.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "I guess I'm just peeved that every time he's mentioned he's referred to as 'it', 'demon', or even worse. They don't see him as a person and it kinda reminds me of how I was back when barely anyone in my own clan recognized me." I paused then chuckled dryly as I stared at the ground.

"Although I suppose he's gonna have it tougher than I ever did!" I felt a reassuring hand on my shoulder and glanced up at Rin who was smiling sheepishly.

"Well you know what...you might have a long way to go still before you can be hokage but…at least you're not like the rest of the village so that means you'll be really unique when your time comes." I smiled up at her.

"And besides…so long as team Minato's around, that kid won't be entirely alone. Even if we have to watch from the shadows, we'll be there when he needs us!" I nodded straightening up again.

"Yeah…you're right," I agreed. "I guess we'll just have to prove to these villagers that Naruto's a special kid ya know!" I chuckled then I heard Kakashi chuckle too.

"Careful there Obito, you're starting to sound like Kushina," he warned. A sense of dread washed over me as I thought of her smug grin if she ever found out I'd just used her common verbal tic. Then I started wondering.

"So uh…depending on how things go…d'ya think this kid will be more like Minato Sensei or…Kushina?" We all deadpanned and shuddered slightly in thought of another Kushina running around the village; this time as a boy. Rin recovered first and giggled.

"Hey well if he's anything like Kushina then he'll be a great cook!" she stated. I laughed.

"Yeah, unless he becomes obsessed with Ramen!" I added on. She laughed too and Kakashi smirked – even if it was under that mask of his. Suddenly we all sensed someone approaching and before we could react, we were staring at two ANBU shinobi before us.

"Kakashi Hatake; Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha," one spoke addressing all of us. We exchanged glances with one another.

"Yes?" Kakashi spoke up. The other ANBU spoke this time.

"You've been called to a top secret meeting with Lord Third Hokage and Lord Fugaku Uchiha. Master Jiraiya of the Sannin and Shikaku Nara will also be there along with other chosen clan heads. You're to meet at this location!" The ANBU held out a sealed scroll and Kakashi took it.

"What's this about?" Rin demanded with a raised eyebrow.

"We don't know," the first ANBU replied. "The details of this meeting are only meant for Lord Third, Master Jiraiya, and lord Fugaku, team Minato and those previously mentioned. We know nothing more!" Kakashi nodded.

"Alright then…thank you!" he declared. The ANBU bowed and were gone. I turned to Kakashi who held the scroll.

"So what do you think this is about?" I wondered. "I mean, Lord Fugaku is involved." Kakashi hummed.

"It could be something to do with Minato Sensei; maybe a will of sorts only to be trusted to those he's deemed worthy to participate in his inner circle. Perhaps the situation is more precarious than we'd originally assumed." He suggested as he pocketed the scroll.

"At any rate I think we should take this someplace without any extra eyes." As he said it I could sense a presence from behind me. I'd gotten better at sensing other's presences thanks to the awakening of my sharingan and years of training. I could tell this presence wasn't on our side. Rin just nodded.

"I know just the place," she declared. She then took the lead and led the way. I remained aware of the presence behind us as we left. It didn't follow it just stared after us waiting for something. I wondered idly…just what kind of storm could be coming in our future.

* * *

 ** _Hiruzen_**

I sat in the bunker's temporary conference room surrounded by those who'd arrived already. Fugaku had come with the acceptation of his wife and three children. I knew not the reason for it but Fugaku promised to explain his reasoning with due time. Meanwhile, Lord Hiashi Hyuga along with his brother were here and so too were the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with Choza snacking on some chips as he waited.

Even though some of the coming clan heads hadn't been specified in Minato's instructions, I had faith that he'd trust in my decision to include them. Shibi Aburame had come and so had Tsume of the Inuzuka clan with her canine companion Kuromaru. The one's yet to show were Team Minato and Jiraiya. I didn't hold out much hope the latter would make it since he was away right now probably conducting 'research' but I knew Team Minato would show. Meanwhile I was left with thoughts of what Minato's last words could possibly be hidden in the scroll that the toad that'd approached Fugaku had brought with it. It sat waiting with the Uchiha head as he sat in his seat, arms crossed and a calm and collected expression upon his face.

Eventually we heard sounds from outside and everyone turned to look towards the door. After a moment Obito Uchiha burst through the door as boisterous as ever.

"Hey everyone, we made it!" he called out cheerily. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me at his optimism as Rin and Kakashi came in behind him with a surprise latched on behind them.

"We found someone," Kakashi drawled jabbing a thumb back towards Jiraiya. "Sorry we're late but we had to drag him away from the bathhouse." A few of the women in the room either glared or expressed their annoyance with different facial expressions and I suddenly felt extremely old compared to my own boisterous student. For some weird reason, I think there's a pattern going on here.

"Hey, c'mon kid, I was in the middle of important peep…I mean research! I was gonna come after it was over," he complained. I just sighed and shook my head.

"Jiraiya, now's really not the time!" I stated. He paused then straightened and looked to me before his features became somewhat more serious. He finally just sighed.

"Alright then, let's just get started!" he declared. I nodded then a small hand signal sent to two of my most trusted ANBU had them sealing the door and placing special seals about as barriers. I started it off.

"As you can all see, I've had special measures taken to ensure that whatever is said at this meeting is not leaked out to anyone even if they are from our own village. Among us are those who were asked to be here through a message sent to Fugaku by the Fourth Hokage and those I deemed trustworthy to join us. I will not name names on the matter but just know that you've all been recognized as important and trustworthy people to be here now!" I took a moment to prepare for the second part of my speech.

"As well, I am not the original orchestrator of this meeting. Fugaku after receiving the Fourth Hokage's message had this meeting arranged. And I think we can all safely assume whatever is to be said between us regarding said message will not leave this circle of trusted brethren." There was more silence as they all agreed to the terms without speaking. I then nodded towards Fugaku who took a deep breath and stood from his seat. He turned to address the audience.

"I suppose the first thing to do is to involve the newest Jinchuriki in this conversation as this all in part has something to do with him." He paused before continuing.

"I think by now, all of us should know whose child Naruto is. There are no doubts of all of us seeing Kushina when she was pregnant and some of us even knew of her previous status in the village before this whole mess started. However, for those of you who didn't know…she was the previous jinchuriki host of the nine tails." He paused here allowing that to sink in. I believe only him, myself, Jiraiya, team Minato and Shikaku knew of the truth. It was of course a shock to the rest as those who hadn't known broke out into surprised gasps and whispers throughout the room.

"Excuse me…" a young voice spoke up from behind drawing everyone's attention. Itachi stepped forth with curiosity on his features.

"…what is a jinchuriki?" he wondered.

"Jinchuriki is the term referred to for those who house one of the nine tailed beasts within their being," Shibi Aburame spoke up clearly knowing more than having let on. "So in essence, the fourth hokage's own wife held the demon fox spirit before it was transferred to her own son." Tsume leaned forward with a frown on her face.

"Eh Fugaku what's with the kids? What're they doin at the grownups table?" she demanded. Clearly others had the same question. Fugaku sighed and raised a hand before things could escalate.

"I'll get to that so don't worry. However, from where I left off…" he paused allowing the chatter to die down. "Since Kushina became pregnant, the seal holding back the nine tails naturally weakened with time and Minato being the genius seal master that he was went with her that night to keep the nine tails from breaking free however…someone clearly knew that when a female jinchuriki is pregnant the seal weakens and so this someone foresaw these events and made their move!"

"You're saying the whole nine tails attack was orchestrated by some genius mastermind?" questioned Kakashi. Fugaku nodded gravely.

"Yes and what's more, Minato ended up fighting with this orchestrator after the nine tails was freed. In his report, he stated that the man wore a mask with only one eye hole and that the figure had the sharingan!"

"So then, an Uchiha was involved," stated Inoichi. Fugaku only nodded gravely.

"I see so that's why you had no qualms with the Uchiha being pushed to the edge of the village when Danzo was placing everyone," Shikaku stated. "Do you believe one of your own could be a traitor?" Fugaku only sighed.

"In all honesty I have no clue. However, you're right. I understand the elder's decision to be wary of our clan. But that's not all. According to Minato, this man claimed to be Madara Uchiha from the days of old." More murmurings erupted throughout the room.

"How do we know this isn't some fabricated story?" Tsume questioned. "Don't get me wrong, I trust some of your clan just not all of it," she stated matter of factly. Fugaku simply gestured to the toad on the table.

"You and I have similar feelings," Fugaku admitted to the Inuzuka. "But perhaps you'd like to hear it from Minato himself." He turned towards Jiraiya.

"The toad says you're the only one who can undo the seal!" Jiraiya simply nodded and approached the toad. He performed the necessary hand seals and the Toad lurched back. Soon it was regurgitating something long and paper like from the depths of its belly and it then held it in its hands. It stood tall on its hind legs, holding the scroll horizontally. Finally it opened its mouth and started some sort of weird frog singing. We waited with baited breath.

Eventually though, the song gave way to words and with the voice of a man we'd all known and cherished.

 _'To those this may concern. If you are hearing me now then it seems you've gotten my message okay and that fact means I am no longer with you. I'll just get straight to the point seeing as how my times' almost up. Earlier today, my wife Kushina was barraged with images of this very attack by the nine tails. We did our best to take extra precaution when it was brought to light however, the culprit who'd orchestrated this attack on the village still managed to separate us after our child was born._

 _As the nine tails rampaged, it was under the control of this man who possessed the Uchiha Clan's famous Sharingan and when I was forced to face him in combat, he claimed to be Madara Uchiha. I've had many thoughts on it since then but I'll leave it to you to interpret its meaning._

 _What really intrigues me is that those images for the vision came from someone and that same someone sent them to Kushina as she explained earlier; feeling the invasion of someone else's chakra however a minor chakra at that. I have a feeling I know who was the cause but I'd like you all to determine that for yourselves._

 _I've decided to entrust the future protection of our village from the nine tails to our only son, Naruto Uzumaki. While I've sealed half of the beast into myself to take with me, he will guard the village from the tailed beast from now on and I pray that someday he'll be seen as a hero in that regard. As for the information I've given you, I feel it's safe just to keep it within this circle of trust constructed by myself and Lord Third as I'm assuming he's called those of you I may have forgotten to mention in this short amount of time. There may very well be enemies hidden within our own walls and there could be danger in the future from this same enemy as I believe he'll see fit to attack the village again._

 _From here on out, proceed with caution and remain safe. I trust that if there are more people to hear about this then Lord third and my many trusted colleagues shall discover them. And finally, I've left a small attachment to this message to be read afterwards. Good luck. Kushina and I…we wish you all the best!'_

As the message came to a close, the entire room was cast in silence. The toad finished its odd jutsu and clamped its mouth shut again before opening a part of the scroll and retrieving a smaller scroll from within a seal before making it slightly bigger. He handed it over to me and I took it bowing my head in thanks. The toad then vanished, returning to Mt. Myoboku.

"So then…what does the other scroll say?" Rin asked tentatively breaking the silence. I handed the scroll to Jiraiya to undo the seal and received it back to unfurl and begin reading. I cleared my throat.

"It appears to be the last will and testament of the two. Ironic how little time they had and they managed to come up with all this." I couldn't help but chuckle dryly at such humor.

"That's Minato for ya," Jiraiya stated beside me, "Always planning ahead with the welfare of the village and its people on his mind." I sighed.

"Indeed it is," I replied. I cleared my throat to read aloud. "These are our final words before we depart from this life. We haven't much time so we'll try to be brief. As we step past the threshold of life into the realm of death, we leave behind many things.

"For our son, we leave behind our shinobi funds in a personal bank account which we ask Lord Third to help him with when he is ready. For Rin Nohara, we leave our many recipe books containing all of her favourite dishes which she may recreate as she sees fit. For Kakashi Hatake, we leave Minato's chakra blade set for use in training and on the battlefield. For Obito Uchiha, we leave behind a lecture about keeping up good health and staying strong when times get rough; but not too rough because boys who act tough without anything to back them up are fools unfit to become hokages." A few chuckles broke out at that as everyone knew it'd been Kushina's words. Obito grumbled something incoherent to himself as he simmered silently by himself. I rolled my eyes and chuckled at his childish behavior.

"We also leave him with a special good luck charm of ours which has helped both of us in many a fight. As for what it actually is – since we know you'll ask; it's hidden within the scroll we told you countless times never to touch while in our home. Jiraiya should be able to undo the seal for you." I took a pause and noticed Obito's gob smacked face. However, the boy caught himself and slowly came back to Earth.

"For our dear friends, Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha," I continued gaining the attention of the other three Uchiha who were currently awake. "We leave behind Kushina's puzzle jewelry box and the sealing scrolls obtained from Uzushiogakure. We know you will use them well.

"Finally for Lord third, we leave behind and entrust you with our child's care. His name is Naruto Uzumaki and we know you'll do right by him." As I finished the last sentence, I couldn't help but sigh with a weary sigh. I was honestly getting too old for this. And I wasn't quite sure what I could do for the boy as it was. Mikoto had wanted to adopt but Fugaku had convinced her he'd only be in danger as mistrust towards the Uchiha increased from this event.

Then there was team Minato. The boys weren't exactly qualified caretakers and had only had a few D-ranked babysitting missions in the past in which Rin had taken the lead. She was more qualified however still young and an active shinobi. I couldn't ask any of them to properly care for Naruto especially once word spread of his jinchuriki status from the leak I had yet to find though was certain I already knew where to look. Despite my great power, I couldn't stop the rumors that were already out there and spreading. I couldn't help the feeling of guilt rising within.

"Um…lord third," Rin spoke up and I glanced up to regard her. She stepped forth.

"I know that I won't be able to do much but…in regards to Minato sensei's child, I'll do whatever I can to help out. I'll help protect and guard him, even if only from the shadows. That is my promise!" She finished and bowed her head. Next though, Obito stepped up as well.

"Yeah, and don't worry; she won't be alone because Kakashi and I'll help too! We can't let Kushina's kid become boring like his old man and…Oof!"

"We'll do our ample best to safeguard his future!" Kakashi finished, eyeing his comrade he had elbowed in the gut. While Obito began grumbling towards his teammate, a voice was cleared somewhere else along the table.

"While the kid's speeches are admirable and all," started Shikaku. Then he turned towards Fugaku. "I believe now's a good time to answer Tsume's earlier question." Fugaku nodded.

"Yes, now that you've heard from Lord Fourth, it is an appropriate time to speak." The rest of the gathered listened.

"When Lord Fourth mentioned that Kushina had been barraged with warning images of the incoming attack, he mentioned knowing who might be behind them."

"So then, someone attempted to warn us?" questioned Choza. Fugaku nodded.

"I also believe I know who's responsible although it might seem a bit farfetched. However, I cannot deny that I myself was a receiver of similar images. It was while I was helping the civilians evacuate during the attack. I saw the masked man who freed the nine tails and drove Kushina and Minato apart. I saw the nine tails attack from many different angles all throughout the village and Minato fighting the culprit. I finally saw the nine tails was sealed inside of their son. Then everything went back to normal and I resumed my duties. However, I know for certain that someone had tried to reach out for me that night and the chakra signature was weak and barely developed. However, it was strong enough to project the images I saw."

The surrounding audience was astounded as was I. I tried to think of someone capable of such a feat but was spared the trouble by Fugaku.

"Even though this may come across as prideful…I believe my daughter Mitsu to be the cause of these images!" Everyone broke out into whisperings. Obito meanwhile scratched his head in confusion.

"Um…Lord Fugaku…isn't Mitsu ya know…a baby!?" he questioned.

"I'm well aware of her age. However, I am also aware that she and Sasuke have both somehow activated their chakra pathways at a young age. It was also as Itachi was taking the two to the safe house that he approached me and it was as they were leaving that the images occurred with traces of her small chakra with them." I blinked, trying to piece together this puzzle.

"That seems quite unbelievable if I do say so myself," I admitted. "But…how can we know for certain?" Fugaku turned to Mikoto who stepped forth.

"On the day Kushina was to give birth, I ran into her on her way with Lady Biwako out of the village and introduced her to the twins since I had them with me. Mitsu had wanted out of the back carrier so I allowed Kushina to hold her for a while. I'm not sure when she was shown the images but I'd have to imagine that it was sometime around then. After that, Lady Biwako had to drag Kushina away somewhere!" I nodded thinking it over.

"Oh please, there's no way that a kid would be capable of causing such a phenomenon especially at such a young age," Tsume tried to protest.

"True, a child Mitsu's age shouldn't have the brain capacity to even make memories yet," Inoichi added.

"There's just no way that's possible," agreed Lord Hiashi. I sighed shaking my head.

"I'm sorry but I barely believe it as well!" Fugaku bowed his head knowing I had reason not to believe.

"Please reconsider," Itachi suddenly spoke up drawing everyone's attention again. He turned to me.

"I know it seems impossible but…I believe that both Mitsu and Sasuke are more intelligent than they're letting on. I know because even though I did not experience those images, I've been witness to something else."

"And what would that be?" I asked curiosity peaked.

"Well…as on the night of the attack, before it happened, both my younger brother and sister seemed to be able to sense the danger. I too felt something ominous in the air and believed they were only unsettled by the wind. However, Mitsu pulled on my hair!" he explained.

"Tch, that's normal baby stuff!" Jiraiya spoke up not too impressed. Itachi's attention focused on him.

"No; not for Mitsu!" he declared. "Ever since we first met in that hospital room two months ago, I've known there was something more to Mitsu than met the eye. For example, whenever she meets people with long hair she often plays with it but she never ever yanks on it; it's always gentle." Mikoto nodded to the side.

"I've noticed that a lot too. She did the same thing with Kushina's hair on that day," she stated. Itachi nodded. Then he turned back to regard the room's other occupants.

"Yes; before that night, she didn't ever yank on my hair before. However, when she did and I turned to see her face it was almost like she was trying to talk to me with her eyes. Then Sasuke began to become disturbed too and started crying right before the nine tails appeared.

"As I fled with them from the compound, Mitsu yanked my hair again and it called my attention to an incoming boulder that could've flattened us had I not noticed in time and even further on, she noticed one of our clansmen in distress and yanked my hair again to draw my attention towards her. If I hadn't seen her she too would've died. I believe more than anything that on that night, Mitsu was keeping a look out and warning me against incoming danger." Itachi finished his speech. The room went into silence with only a few whispers here and there.

"Hm, this still seems pretty farfetched," Jiraiya stated. "I wonder…do you think you could get her to show images willingly or…"

"I'm not sure how she did it and I'm not sure how smart she could actually be," Fugaku admitted.

"Despite being her father I'm unprepared for this and find it quite hard to believe myself. However, she was right about the masked man. I sent two of my subordinates out to gather intelligence on the matter. They confronted the man but only one came back alive!" I folded my hands over top of one another.

"Hm, a very serious matter indeed," I sighed. "I now see why Minato chose only a select few to come to this meeting. I feel that if Danzo ever got wind of this then he'd see to it that the Uchiha were executed. That's something I will not stand for! As for young Mitsu, I'm not entirely sure how to respond to all of this."

"Perhaps if you looked into her eyes," Itachi suggested. I blinked in astonishment.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Look into her eyes. Many who do can see for themselves a special light within. Perhaps that will ease your troubled mind. Even Lord Fourth saw this." I blinked then turned towards Fugaku. He sighed and nodded.

"I suppose that's one way but…" he glanced over his shoulder to where the twins were with their mother.

"I'm not sure if she'd be awake!" The rest of them glanced over as well. Itachi walked over to the carriage they'd brought. After glancing in he smiled then reached out and picked up one of the babies. It was Mitsu I could tell who was in fact starting to wake up. She yawned and stretched and I could see that Sasuke was beginning to stir as well only he was picked up by his mother. Itachi brought Mitsu over to me.

"There, there you're in a safe place," Itachi cooed as Mitsu began to become aware of her surroundings. She let out a big yawn and stretched some more. I allowed her to be passed into my arms and I had to shift her around some. Soon I was staring down at the small child whose eyes were already roving about the room with peaked curiosity. Soon though, her eyes found mine and it was like she froze in place. For the longest time I stared into those eyes as they stared back. There was no way a child would be this focused on one thing.

As I continued staring, I noticed something small but soon it became bigger and I gasped as I beheld the light that Itachi had spoken of. However, as I continued staring, suddenly I wasn't in the same room anymore.

I watched as an older version of myself sat in a room of the academy across from a young blonde haired ninja. At first I thought it was Minato but soon realized it to be his son instead. The older me chastised him for submitting such an obnoxious photo for his ninja identification and he grew frustrated and refused to change it.

Next I watched as a younger boy rushed in with some blunt shuriken to challenge me to a duel but ended up tripping flat on his face. I wasn't sure how I knew but I felt I knew that this boy was my grandson.

Once again the images shifted but this time I watched as my elder self, fought against my old student Orochimaru. I watched as I was forced to fight reanimated versions of the first two hokage but eventually managed to seal away his soul's arms with an old forbidden jutsu from the Uzumaki clan and then I witnessed my own funeral. What caught me off guard were the faces of the young. The blonde boy with whisker birthmarks I recognized as Naruto.

Next I saw the face of a girl the same age with pink hair and finally…I saw two older faces of the two children who were in this very room. They all wore black and carried white flowers as was custom towards an offering set up for me; my picture standing in the middle. Meanwhile, it began to rain.

Eventually I was brought back to the room I'd been in earlier with the other clan heads and I had to blink away the vivid images that'd been so real. I almost felt I'd been living them. I glanced once more into the eyes of the baby I held only to see some sadness dancing in them. I closed my eyes and sighed.

"I see it," I said simply. "That was quite the montage I just witnessed."

"Wait, you can't be serious; you actually saw something old man?" Jiraiya asked incredulously. I nodded gravely.

"Images of the future I presume as I saw this child and a few others grown up. Although, I doubt I could've imagined I'd meet my end in a similar way as Minato. That seal…much too dangerous!" I muttered making a side note to study up on it more and to make sure it never fell into the wrong hands again.

"Like Minato?" questioned Tsume, "Then does that mean that the nine tails will break out again or that masked weirdo will attack?" I shook my head.

"That's not what I saw but I know Minato is probably right about that masked man. He will attack again. However, we can discuss this at a later date. What I want to know is how this child can possess such an incredible gift. I don't believe this to have any connection to the Uchiha clan's dojutsu." Fugaku nodded.

"I don't believe that's the case either. Whatever it is though; perhaps we can nourish it and help it grow in order to better understand it. I also believe this is perhaps a gift shared with her brother although we haven't noticed Sasuke displaying any similar attributes." I hummed in thought.

"Then what have you noticed?" Kakashi questioned. Fugaku closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'm not entirely sure but…I believe Itachi's correct in the terms of Mitsu being capable of some form of understanding where she can comprehend danger and attempt a line of communication. Although Sasuke doesn't show images, I've observed the two with my sharingan and I've noticed they've been able to exchange chakra fluxes with one another. I also believe they can understand it almost like their own pathway of communication."

"I see," Jiraiya commented. "That sounds mighty impressive."

"Does it ever!" exclaimed Obito suddenly as he approached Mikoto and Sasuke. "And you say you can see it with sharingan? Lemme try!" He leaned over, activating his one sharingan eye to get a better look at Sasuke who was now awake in his mother's arms. He blinked up at Obito curiously. Then he started squirming as if uncomfortable.

As Sasuke squirmed, I noticed Mitsu turned her head in his direction and blinked. There was a moment of silence with the two moving and making new faces every now and then when finally Sasuke's face relaxed and he let out a snort then a loud giggle and laugh. Mitsu too began to laugh and I heard a gasp from not just Obito but from someone else at the table. I turned to see that Hiashi's brother had activated his byakugan.

"You were right!" he exclaimed. "They're sending chakra fluxes intentionally across the room to one another. It's incredible!"

"Completely unheard of," Kakashi agreed as he approached, his own sharingan uncovered. Jiraiya hummed in thought.

"Even out of sage mode, I can sense the faint traces in the air. These two…share a connection and a power that if fallen into the wrong hands could be disastrous." I nodded.

"Then we should continue to observe them. You have no qualms with my assigning a personal nurse?" I asked of Fugaku and Mikoto. They shared a glance.

"Very well," Fugaku agreed as soon as it was confirmed with his wife. "A checkup every month sounds about normal." I nodded.

"And they'll be brought in if they develop new and unheard of behaviors," I added, thinking it a wise move. Fugaku nodded.

"So long as the nurse remains trustworthy." I nodded once more.

"Indeed. As for what was spoken here, it is to be kept tight lipped. No one speaks of this outside of our meetings. I feel we'll more than likely need more after this." I handed Mitsu back to Itachi as she'd begun getting fussy and straightened my robes.

"I would furthermore like to tell the elders about this masked man who attacked our village. We'll tell them it was a rogue shinobi who managed to steal the Uchiha's power from the spoils of the war. It should hopefully alleviate some of the mistrust towards the clan. I also feel inclined to warn you Fugaku that Danzo will be adamant about a twenty four hour surveillance of your clan. I'm not sure what I'll be able to do with my rival on my end but I hope you can quell some of your clansmen's fires to avoid any future unrest between the police force and the village." Fugaku nodded.

"Until the matters of the attack are resolved, I'll do my best. It will be the elders who will try to cause the most disturbances but I'll see to it that their ideals if unlawful are more than quelled." I nodded. Hiashi then stood.

"Perhaps there should be more action on our part as well," he suggested. "If we leave Fugaku alone he'll surely be crushed by both his clansmen and the villagers trying to carry that weight for himself. I propose an alliance of sorts; something that involves more interaction and doesn't isolate the Uchiha more than Danzo already has!"

"I agree," Shikaku spoke up. "The council's already made the poor decision of pushing the Uchiha into an easily managed corner. If they remain cut off then the rift between them and the village will only grow. It's bad enough seeds of mistrust were sewn with Madara's era. As I recall, one man's wrongs should not condemn the many." Fugaku bowed with respect.

"Thank you," he said. "Truly I am grateful for your support." I nodded.

"Something to be discussed for another time. For now I believe we've been here later than planned," I stated. I then stood.

"I believe we should meet in a new secluded spot every time we must call a meeting. This way root won't be able to detect us as easily. For those who were mentioned in the will, you will be free to collect your treasures tomorrow. For now; this meeting is adjourned!"

And with that, a small stone was thrown into the pond from which ripples were sure to follow.


	4. A Day on the Town

**_Mitsu_**

 _'_ _Bored',_ Sasuke told me. We're both a year and a half old by now and already, Sasuke's beginning to pick up on, comprehend then return my English thoughts. I suppose him learning English won't be so bad because then we can use it as like our own secret code language. But in terms of intelligence, I didn't think he'd pick it up at all. The impressive part is how quickly I'm learning how to pick up on the Japanese language. I had honestly thought it would be harder than this.

 _'_ _I know',_ I returned feeling the same way. Just a few months ago we'd both mastered walking and running about but Sasuke still liked crawling because he was faster at it than I was. Of course that was the reason. Ever since we started the cutesy games, he's been really competitive. He's picked up his game too since he learned to walk. He'll stand up in our crib or somewhere else whenever someone's watching and he'll run about in circles till he's dizzy and falls down. Then he'll grin showing off his new set of teeth just coming in before glancing at me smugly. Yes I said smugly. The kid already knows how to be a pain the ass. Oh well, half of it is my fault after all.

 _'_ _What want do?'_ he asked. We were currently sitting in the family room waiting for mother to bring us our snacks for the morning. I wasn't sure what her plans were for the day but I was positive it had something to do with housecleaning. Ugh! Boring! The heavy indicators rested with all of the cleaning supplies she was pulling out of the closet here and there. I then watched as she came in with our little Tupperware snack containers – because despite what most people in my old world believe; yes this world is that advanced – with our favourite crackers and a sippy cup with juice each.

 _"_ _Here you are. Stay put and be good. I…clean the house today!"_ is what I understood from her. I snorted some as she walked into the other room then turned to Sasuke who was giving me a curious look as he opened his cracker dish.

 _'_ _I knew it!'_ I proclaimed. _'She is making us watch her clean the house!'_ Sasuke crinkled his nose as he grabbed a handful of crackers and stuffed them into his mouth.

 _'_ _That sound…boring!'_ he grumbled in my head. I fell back on my back and grabbed my toes not even giving my snack container a second glance.

 _'_ _Yeah,'_ I agreed. As I laid there staring annoyed up at the ceiling, I tried to think of a way to get away from our boredom. Suddenly an idea lit up in my head as I recalled a movie I watched once with my last life's brothers on a snow day. I grinned a gap toothed grin – because I too am just starting to grow teeth which is actually more painful than I remember – as I sat up again.

 _'_ _What if we went out?'_ I queried. I glanced at him and he frowned in return.

 _'_ _Asking mother to go?'_ he asked back. I shook my head and crawled closer to him.

 _'_ _I mean, by ourselves!'_ I said mischievously. He pulled back frowning more but more with a bit of fear.

 _'_ _But… never go alone…before,'_ he replied uncertainly. I sat cross legged.

 _'_ _We can crawl and walk now,'_ I told him. _'And don't you want to explore?'_

 _'_ _See new…things? Alone with no mother?'_ I nodded.

 _'_ _We'll be together so we'll be safe,'_ I tried to coax him. _'We can go new places and see new things; maybe even try new things like new snacks!'_ I had to wait for him to finish trying to comprehend that one since he wasn't as fast. Sometimes when he didn't understand something he'd ask me in thought or try to figure it out like how when we were just starting out with my emotions imbedded in my thoughts and words.

 _'_ _New snacks? What wrong with our snacks?'_ I sighed mentally.

 _'_ _Nothing but wouldn't it be fun to try some new ones? Then we could like more than just crackers. And we could look for new toys! There's a whole world out there we can explore and see for ourselves.'_ I waited but even after that he didn't seem willing to budge so it was time to pull out my trump card.

 _'_ _You know…if we go by ourselves…we'll be like big brother!'_ I told him. He froze and a gasp escaped him. I knew that would work because like me, he idolized our older brother a lot. I tried for another push.

 _'_ _Maybe we could see where he goes off to every day,'_ I continued and I knew from his uncontrolled emotional fluxes that he was really excited by that thought. It only took a few more minutes.

 _'_ _Ok, let's go out,'_ he said happily before clapping his hands with delight and giving me an excited smile. I giggled and returned the favor.

 _'_ _Ok,'_ I replied. Now all I had to do was time this right. We waited for almost an hour before mother decided to start on the laundry and as soon as the machine was running in the laundry room with her humming her favourite tune, we made our get away. She'd be questioning how we'd done it but nobody knew we knew how to open things. So it was me who had opened the door from the living room and it was me who had to open the front door – with a bit of help from Sasuke since the thing was so heavy. Heh, good thing it was unlocked.

We waited for the right moment then…I told Sasuke to crawl out first while I stood on my still shaky legs and closed the door behind us. Then with one quick check around the street we were situated on, I determined we were good to move out.

I started the journey off with walking as fast as I could manage while Sasuke was determined to keep up with me on all fours. I led him down our street then down the next and luckily it was the time of day when there was hustle and bustle about even in our district.

It's weird but ever since that meeting where Sasuke and I woke up surrounded by strangers and the third hokage then I accidentally saw a collage of memories regarding the third hokage, my father had been adamant about being open and interactive with the rest of the village. I wasn't sure what he was going for but as long as it wasn't isolation our clan had a chance of surviving. I barely did anything in this world and already we were off to a good start.

It took a while of maneuvering through the Uchiha district I'd taken liberty to memorize bit by bit but finally we made it to one of the exits that would lead to the rest of the village. As we stared down the long pathway, Sasuke turned to me curiously.

 _'_ _Out there?'_ he wondered. I simply nodded.

 _'_ _Yup, out there is everything new and exciting and out there is where we might find big brother!'_ I explained. After a while of working on comprehension he smiled and giggled.

 _'_ _Okay, let's go!'_ he declared and started out ahead of me. I smiled and switched to crawling for a bit. It'd taken us a while to get to the edge of the Uchiha district and already my legs were tired. Oh well. I pushed forth determined to not let Sasuke stay in the lead for too long. He'd probably get us lost and I had actually been paying attention to some places outside that our mother and big brother had taken us.

Once outside, I led us down a few familiar streets I remembered. Today seemed to be an extremely busy day as nobody gave a second glance and we were able to move through the crowds fairly easy with my chakra sense leading us so we wouldn't be trampled. As we went, I did my best to read the Japanese words I had already managed to teach myself. It wouldn't help if I took us to a bar by accident. Of course some of the outside displays helped to make the places stand out.

For example, we came across a clothing store first. When I looked inside out of curiosity, I was bombarded with memories of crawling through the clothes displays in Zellers as a kid. I grinned and nudged Sasuke.

 _'_ _C'mon. Let's go play over there!'_ I explained. He looked where I was looking questionably but followed me nevertheless. Once I got close to a clothes rack, I disappeared inside the hanging ninja clothes. Sasuke whined after a while not understanding until I poked my head out. It took him a while to comprehend what I'd done but when he did he cracked a smile and started clapping his hands as he laughed. I joined him before I disappeared again. This time he decided to follow me inside.

It soon became a little game of tag between us trying to find one another in the clothes. It got even better when we discovered the bargain bins for civilian clothes – how we managed to get up that high I can't remember. I think there was a chair and stack of boxes near one. However, that's also how we got caught as Sasuke poked his head up through the clothes at the wrong time. It startled the lady who'd been about to organize the bin. Sasuke just laughed at her expression and I couldn't help but join in with how funny it was.

The woman became finicky and I could tell from her chakra she was wondering where our parents were. She was talking too fast for me to understand anything she was saying but eventually I was sitting with Sasuke behind the counter of the store in a laundry basket being watched by the woman as she made a call on the intercom about missing kids. I snickered at her attempt.

While she wasn't paying attention however, Sasuke stood up and climbed over the side of the basket. I followed his lead and soon we were crawling through the clothes again until we made it back outside.

I took a moment to bat away the sudden brightness of the sun compared to the lights of the store. After I had my bearings I called to Sasuke and we began our new journey. I'm not sure how long we spent in the clothes store before we got caught but it seemed to be closer to noon now but not so close that we had to worry about lunch yet. However, my belly began to rumble for a snack since I'd neglected the one mother had given me this morning. I wondered idly if she'd discovered that we were gone yet. She shouldn't notice too soon because I'd set up our toys and blankets left in the living room as decoys. Yes I know it's not a fool proof plan but I just wanna see how far we can get today.

After crawling slash walking around some more while blending in with the crowd – as in pretending to be somebody else's kids for a while before switching – we found our way to a sweet shop. We peeked inside, taking in the smells and colours. Sasuke was salivating at the thought of food. We crawled in and I stood on shaky legs to get a better look. The shop was giving out free samples of stuff that looked delicious but I had to be careful not to get caught and not to grab something Sasuke might choke on. I settled on some chocolates that reminded me of Lindor back home. The memory of the chocolate melting in my mouth was very tantalizing. So I crawled forth and when no one was looking, I crawled onto a chair and grabbed two.

Once I got them, I ushered Sasuke behind one of the sandwich board stands that were advertising the shop's best deals. I handed the chocolate to Sasuke and gave him a serious look.

 _'_ _Remember, our teeth are still developing,'_ I reminded him. _'If you can't chew it then just suck on it and try not to choke.'_ He nodded.

 _'_ _K,'_ he replied. On three we took the chocolates into our mouths and I enjoyed the satisfying flavor. I was also glad it didn't have rum inside like the time I had accidentally stolen some of my last dad's Christmas chocolates and they hadn't tasted right. He'd laughed at me for that and I'd been annoyed with him for the rest of the day. I shook my head from the memory but was called back to reality by a whine. I glanced at Sasuke who was making a sour face.

 _'_ _Too…too…too sicky'_ he whined in my head. I sighed mentally as I finished sucking down my chocolate.

 _'_ _You mean too sweet?'_ I questioned knowing that things with too much sugar or too much a sweet flavor sometimes made him sick. That was proven when we'd been switched over to baby food and mom tried to feed him mashed sweet potatoes. He'd spit it all up after a few bites. The same thing had occurred whenever he'd been given anything too sweet and mom and dad couldn't figure out what was wrong nor could our regular nurse. So it'd been up to me to find him something not too sweet to eat which had involved a lot of taste testing on my part. It hadn't been fun since I rarely liked or ate anything bitter.

However, I'd finally been able to find out he liked bittersweet things and sometimes bitter things if they were mildly so after a few tries along with tangy flavors and so on. So I'd managed to get him on to tomatoes, regular potatoes without the sugar, some other things too. The way I did it was I'd make a fuss for the things Sasuke liked while mother and father still tried to coax him to eat what I had no problem with. Then when they weren't looking, I'd switch our food. It took a while but eventually Itachi caught on and seemed to understand the problem. Sasuke was forever grateful to the two of us.

I sighed as I watched him make the pouty face of the baby who didn't like what he was eating. I held out my hand before him and he took the initiative to spit it out into it. Usually, I'd find it gross but I'd long since gained a tolerance for disgusting since in my past life my younger brother was always trying to gross me out in some weird way. He'd win if I wasn't expecting it so I'd had to steel myself against the worst.

I stood up and immediately started looking for the garbage which was on the other side of the shop so it took a while for me to find my way there and throw out the chocolate. I quickly berated myself for not remembering Sasuke's problem so I began looking for something he might actually like. I walked around as stable as I could manage till I found a tray of similar chocolates, only they were dark chocolate. Taking the risk, I grabbed one when nobody was looking after climbing on another chair and being stealthy. I first popped it in my mouth with my chubby hand to try it. My still developing taste buds didn't like the bitter taste I'd become accustomed to last life but I knew Sasuke would like it. It wasn't dark, dark chocolate that was too bitter. No it was actually bittersweet. I took another and climbed off the chair.

I took it over to where I'd left Sasuke. He was busy watching a puppy dog walk by and I swear it looked like one of the Inuzuka clan's hounds. I poked my brother and handed him the new chocolate which he glared at with a small pout. I did my best eye roll I could manage at this age.

 _'_ _This one's good,'_ I told him. He looked at it for a while before slowly nodding and taking it. He then popped it in his mouth and started sucking on it the way I'd taught him to, to avoid his teeth hurting and him choking. This time he didn't spit it out and swallowed after a while.

 _'_ _Good,'_ he nodded. Then he made a frowny face. _'Thirsty now'_ he told me. I nodded then looked about. I couldn't see anyplace with drinks nearby and the shop we were in only sold sugary ones Sasuke wouldn't like. It was up to me again to find something suitable for the both of us. I decided to look for a place with milk. We'd be able to stomach it and besides as I recalled it went well with chocolate. So I stood and beckoned Sasuke to follow. This time he stood too, wanting to get better at walking. We set out once again blending in with the crowd.

After a few more streets, I finally found a place that sold milk. It was a convenience store that was having a sale so the doors were wide open and we slipped in unnoticed. I led Sasuke through shoppers' legs and to the dairy section. After a while I found a section of carton milk but the smaller ones were on the top shelf. I huffed with annoyance. Great, I was gonna have to climb.

I watched and waited for an opportune moment before standing up, standing up then pulling my weight up until I was in the bottom part of the open cooler. Then I positioned myself and used the shelves to help me stand up again. It was cold so I hoped that Sasuke would appreciate this. I was barefoot after all.

I began to reach for the smaller milk cartons. I only needed one since we could just share as long as Sasuke didn't hog it all. I couldn't quite reach it so I manipulated some of my chakra from the little reserves I'd managed to gain to my feet and hands and attempted to climb with my personal strength and the little amount of chakra to help support me. I got up one shelf then reached the second with my knee. However, as I was about to pull myself up my chakra lost its hold and I slipped. As I went reeling backwards I cursed myself for being so naively stupid. I let out a yelp as Sasuke readied himself to cry from the fright but before I could go splat on the floor, I was caught by something long, hard, soft and…orange?

Sasuke and I turned in surprise to see a familiar – well familiar to me – face before us. He spoke boisterously and too fast for me to catch onto any words. However, it didn't take long for him to pick me up off of his extended leg on which I was expertly caught and place me down again next to Sasuke. As Sasuke asked me _'who',_ I just watched as Maito Gai went on probably about something to do with youth. It was clear to me he was probably not the best to be a babysitter. I shook my head.

 _'_ _Not important',_ I told him. Instead I was scheming something in my mind that might actually work on him if he was actually this gullible. After his long winded speech, he knelt down before us like the youthful Konoha shinobi he was and by his tone, asked us a question.

 _"_ _What are you…no parents?"_ he asked. I turned to Sasuke.

 _'_ _Play along,'_ I told him. He agreed with a chakra flux and got ready. I pulled on the best angry pouty Uchiha baby face I could manage. I then pointed up at the milk cartons.

 _"_ _Gyu-yu!"_ I tried to say what I thought milk was in Japanese. The man before us blinked then glanced up repeating what I'd said in Japanese only much clearer and probably more correct. I flushed red. It wasn't my fault I was still getting used to this body and language. Not even my will was strong enough to speed up human growth.

Gai looked between us and the milk before finally standing up and reaching for one of the smaller cartons and bringing it down. He asked us if it had been what we were after in Japanese which thankfully he'd slowed down enough for me to comprehend most of it then fill in the blanks. I simply smiled and reached for it. However, he held it out of reach and started a new speech with whispers here and there of parents and so on and so forth. I was really getting annoyed quickly with this man; mostly because I couldn't understand him. However, I didn't have to wait long before a loud crash was heard behind us.

I turned to see Sasuke had wandered off and had thankfully created a distraction. He smiled at me from where he sat next to a bunch of broken soda bottles that'd been on display. I smirked at him before telling him to be careful of the broken glass. He nodded and clumsily tiptoed to the end of the isle while I swiped the carton from a stunned Gai and turned tail running away.

 _"_ _Oi!"_ he called after us but I thankfully got to the end of the isle and turned the corner just as a store clerk appeared and started chewing out Gai while the poor green clad ninja desperately tried to explain the situation. Sasuke giggled as did I.

 _'_ _Let's get going before they find us,'_ I said. He nodded and we began to weave through the shoppers again as best we could while heading for the checkout and the exit. All of a sudden though, Sasuke stopped causing me to stop. I turned to see he'd picked up a fallen dollar bill or what was referred to around here as yen. He looked to me and then came after me. I was curious as he passed me and came up behind one of the people in line just finishing their business.

 _'_ _Mom leave…paper…after get new thing,'_ he explained his reasoning. I smiled at him approving of his plan and allowed him to approach the counter. Since he was standing he was able to reach up enough that the tip of the yen was seen over the counter top. The lady looked at it quizzically before taking it. However, as she leaned over to look for who'd given it to her, we were already on our way to the exit. We walked right beside a leaving lady with groceries and once we passed the sensors, the alarms went off. The lady was called back while Sasuke and I ran out into the street.

A while later and I'd found us a good place to hide and rest our sore legs. When we were well hidden, I sat against the wall of the building in the alley way and expertly managed to open the milk carton. I took the first sip, using two hands to keep it steady so it wouldn't spill. As soon as the carton was lighter, I handed it to Sasuke who already knew the drill from when I'd taught him how to lift his own milk bottle when mom had run out of breast milk. After a satisfying sound escaped Sasuke and he smacked his lips, he handed back the carton and asked,

 _'_ _Where next?'_

* * *

 ** _Rin_**

"Alright, now where does this one go?" I asked as I handed him the triangle. I waited for him to attempt to put it somewhere and finally he made his move. He put the triangle in the square and I giggled as he turned to me with a big goofy grin of excitement. I patted his head of soft blonde hair with a chuckle.

"No, that's a square. Try again!" I encouraged. However, the child before me didn't seem to want to continue learning about shapes today. Instead he turned and began crawling towards his other favourite toy, the stuffed lion with a voice box that spoke different phrases whenever it was squeezed. He grabbed it then used the nearby playpen to help himself stand up. I grew excited and got into position.

"Good job now try coming to me like that," I encouraged. "Come on; come on, I know you can do it; c'mon," I cheered for him. He grinned at me as he enjoyed it whenever I called out to him. He laughed and bounced some excitedly.

"Come on, come to big sister Rin, come on; just take one step then it'll be your first!" I waited expectantly but just as soon as he had stood, he plopped back down again on his bottom and clapped his hands with delight, the lion's voice box activating and starting to sing it's special counting song. I sighed and shook my head with a fond smile. _'Next time for sure'_ I told myself.

"I don't see what the point is," Kakashi sighed off to the side. I gave him a small pouty scowl.

"Don't be like that Kakashi! We have to record every moment for the sake of creating memories!" I turned back to watch the toddler Naruto start pressing different buttons on his lion to make it talk and then clapped as he spoke.

"I dunno," Obito groaned. "I mean…maybe we're pushing too hard. No matter what we try he won't try to walk or try to speak. And you being lazy and reading that stupid book isn't helping!" He finished turning a scowl on our other teammate. I sighed and shook my head as the two fell into their usual antics.

"Don't start you two; you're being bad influences for Naruto," I chided.

"Actually I don't think we're any kind of influence for Naruto," Kakashi said as he sat up from previously lying down on the bench. We were currently in the nursery of the orphanage of Konoha. We normally came in to visit with Naruto as often as we could when we didn't have missions. Sometimes it was all three of us like today or it was just two or one. Depending on who was available we made sure to get as much time with him as possible. Although Obito and I usually had to drag Kakashi here.

"How can you say that?" Obito demanded. He posed himself proudly. "I for one am a great influence!" I rolled my eyes at his childish antics.

"Really; then how come he's not paying attention!" Kakashi pointed out. Naruto was now immersed in playing with his lion barely paying attention to any of us. Obito became defensive.

"Hey, are you forgetting who got that toy for him?!" he countered. "As I recall you couldn't be bothered to get him something cool for his birthday so Rin had to buy your present for you!"

"And as you'd recall if you ever paid attention; I was just getting back from my mission and I hadn't gotten paid yet because there was a backup on in the financial department. I can't control everything!"

"Yeah well…"

"Ba, ba; babababa!" Obito was interrupted as Naruto squealed with delight over his toy lion. Then the one year old promptly picked up the lion and crawled as fast as he could over to the two arguing boys. I had to hold back a giggle as he then proceeded to show them what the lion could do. I felt he was the only one who could stop their arguments anymore besides me of course. Obito melted.

"Aww, are you having fun Naruto? Is big brother Obito's present really that great?" he asked in a cooing manner. I furrowed my brows at him.

"Really?" I asked him referring to his continuation of who had given him the best gift last year. I had a feeling if he didn't shut-up then by the time his birthday came around again in October then Kakashi would just have to outdo him just to shut him up and initially open a whole new can of worms.

"What?" he asked innocently as he hoisted the toddler up to bounce him on his knee.

"Can't we just get him a gift and not have it dissolve into a chaotic showdown?" I questioned slightly annoyed.

"Oh c'mon Rin, there's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy rivalry!" Obito chuckled. "It might actually teach him something!" I sighed as I deflated.

"That's what I'm afraid of," I groaned.

"As long as Gai's not involved we'll be fine," Kakashi pointed out. I suppose I had to agree. Even after our tippy top secret meeting that no one else was supposed to know about unless chosen by us or approved by the hokage and the council Gai had managed to accidentally get caught at one of the meetings after claiming that he'd been training but he'd been locked in as soon as the seals were activated. After that we'd had no choice but to trust him with the big secret and he'd been threatened enough times by us and the hokage that if he were to spill the information he'd be punished. Of course then he'd been pursued by Anko who'd known something was up and by the end of it, pretty much our whole jonin year was a part of the trusted circle.

What I worry about now is that Gai will wind up brainwashing poor Naruto into wearing that ridiculous outfit of his. In fact he'd gotten him a baby version of it for his first birthday and we'd been forced to let him wear it and take pictures for the baby album I'd decided to construct. Gai looked pleased enough and Naruto in the photo hadn't known what was going on so his face was puzzled. It was actually kinda cute and funny but somehow I knew that if Kushina found out she'd figure out some sort of divine punishment to invoke on us whether she was a god or not. I shook my head clear as I recalled that last birthday we'd had for him and tried to dissuade any murderous Kushina thoughts.

"Yeah, I guess I'd have to agree on that," I said. "We should keep that suit as only a one-time thing!" Obito visibly shuddered.

"You're tellin me," he said. Meanwhile Naruto was content to let his sounds become bouncing noises as he was bounced up and down on Obito's knee. He finally broke into a grin and a squeal erupted from him indicating he was having fun. He clapped ecstatically. Once again Obito melted.

"Aww…ya know what? I think you'd get along with my baby cousins!" he declared. Kakashi raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"You mean the twins?" he asked. Obito nodded.

"If I could convince Aunt Mikoto to let them have a playdate…" he pondered and trailed off.

"Forget it!" Kakashi frowned. "That girl Mitsu's nothin' but trouble!"

"You're only sayin' that cuz she went to the bathroom when it was your turn to hold her!" Obito declared.

"No I say it because it's clear she's mischievous! I saw it in her eyes the last time you dragged me over to the Uchiha district and her brother's becoming just the same! She's a bad influence for him."

"Oh c'mon Kakashi," I tried to reason. "They can't be that bad! They're babies!"

"Humph, yeah…sure…but Mitsu's secretly the devil!" I snickered. Kakashi had been wary of her ever since that incident in the hospital about a year ago. It was funny because soon after, she'd made it her personal job to humiliate him in some way whenever he was around.

"Rin?" a voice called from nearby. I glanced up to see the only matron here we actually liked. This one wasn't afraid to take care of Naruto properly and on more than one occasion she'd have to save him from the other matron's scrutiny and contempt. The others made my blood boil but this one, Kokoyo, had proven very caring and motherly. Meanwhile the others kept their distance, barely paid attention to Naruto, showed their dislike towards us and wouldn't let Naruto play with the other kids. Maybe Obito's idea wasn't so bad after all.

"Yes?" I replied.

"I hate to cut in on your time here but Shiro and Ao are out with the older kids taking them to the park. Could you help me with something?" I smiled in her direction.

"Sure," I replied. I stood up and turned towards the boys with a stern look. "I expect you three to be on your best behaviors!" I glared specifically at Obito and Kakashi before turning to Naruto with a sly grin.

"Make sure your older brothers stay outta trouble kay?" I said with a wink before heading out the door.

"Wait what?" Obito protested flabbergasted. "Rin wait!" he cried after me. I just rolled my eyes at him and followed Kokoyo to help her with what she needed.

Had I looked more into what I thought looked like a weird stuffed animal in the hall, maybe what'd happened next would've been prevented.

* * *

 ** _Mikoto_**

I rushed as fast I could throughout the district, confronting everyone I saw in order to ask them my question. It was a question I didn't think I'd have to ask so early. 'Have you seen my children'? That is a very terrifying question to ask, especially when you manage to lose said children simply by cleaning the house.

At first I'd thought they were just sleeping soundly; the blankets were placed well enough to make it seem like that but when I'd gone to pick them up to put them in the playpen to vacuum, I'd realized with sinking dread they were no longer there. My eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets. By now, I hadn't found any trace of them and there couldn't be any way for them to have opened the doors by themselves; they were too heavy for them to slide. By the time I'd searched throughout nearly all the Uchiha district I'd entered near hysteria. I could feel the tears forming in my eyes. What if…what if they'd been kidnapped?

"What's the matter Mikoto?" I heard a voice ask from nearby. I spun to see that Uruchi was sweeping up outside of their shop. She'd been gone with her husband earlier to pick up a few things for the store. As soon as she saw my teary eyes she came up to me in a comforting manor.

"What's gotten you so upset child?" she asked. I shook as I tried to keep my voice even and under control.

"W-well…earlier today I was setting up and got to cleaning the house. The twins fell asleep and I was cleaning for a few hours before I went in to put them in the pen because I was going to vacuum the room. But when I went to pick them up…they…they…they weren't there!" I cried.

"I've been searching for them around the district for an hour now! I don't know where they are or if they're safe! They just disappeared and I'm starting to think…they could've been kidnapped!" I felt her place a reassuring hand on my shoulder.

"Now, now, calm down child!" she soothed. "I'm certain it hasn't come to that. Even if it has, whoever it was must've had a difficult time infiltrating the village just to get to them so then they'd have a similar hard time getting out. But before we jump to conclusions why don't we search around some more and alert the police force. They'll be able to find them and I dare say the help of some of the free genin teams can help as well!" I nodded knowing she was wise in her way of thinking. She then leaned the broom up against the shop entryway and called inside to her husband.

"Teyaki dear!" she called. "I'm going out for a bit so you'll have to manage on your own for a while. Mikoto's children are missing in action!"

"Alright; good luck! I'll spread the word and keep a look out!" he called back. Uruchi nodded then turned to me with finality in her eyes.

"Alrighty then, let's get to it!" I nodded and followed Uruchi towards the leaf police headquarters. If anyone could find them, it was them…right?

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

I walked ahead of the others like the big sister despite only being older than one. During our time outside, we'd managed to find our way to the orphanage by chance and just so happened to pick up an extra member for our day out. It was no surprise really. We'd been exploring the hallways after we'd waited for the groups of older kids to leave somewhere when we'd come upon the nursery. Immediately I'd recognized the one toddler playing around in there.

Kakashi and Obito had been there too but Kakashi had been immersed in his favourite naughty book and Obito had been nodding off. Meanwhile, the blonde headed kid who would later become Sasuke's genin teammate had been on the floor looking bored out of his mind. He'd noticed us too and we'd stood – or rather in the boy's cases they sat – and stared at one another. Eventually, I took the initiative, allowing a small amount of my chakra to extend to him in a friendly greeting. It'd caused him to gasp and his eyes to grow wide with fascination. I smiled his way with my mouth of growing teeth and waved. He'd waved back.

Sasuke meanwhile decided it was worth his time to investigate so he'd crawled into the room right up to the blonde and sat across from him looking him up and down. I remembered having rolled my eyes as I thought 'great, he's sizing him up already'. Then he'd tried to communicate with him like what we normally did but Naruto didn't seem to understand. All he did was make questioning noises and his chakra displayed his emotions unconsciously to me across the room. The two were immensely curious with one another.

Then Sasuke had been curious about what I assumed to be his favourite toy and when he'd gone to touch it, the kid had grown defensive. However, Sasuke wouldn't relent as he wanted to see what was going on and I'd had to intervene so as not to draw the attention of the two probably jonin ranked ninja in the room. Thankfully, Kakashi had been really immersed in his reading.

I'd gotten Sasuke's attention and had told him the toy wasn't his so he should just leave it alone. He'd grumbled at me a bit but nevertheless had given up on trying to play with it. Next he'd crawled back to me as I hadn't gone all the way into the room and we'd started to leave. It wasn't until we were almost down the hall that we'd heard him following us. Sasuke had given him a sour look still feeling sour about being denied playing with the stupid stuffed lion and Naruto was…brimming with curiosity and excitement.

It was here Sasuke and I'd argued about letting him follow in which I won because I'd told him maybe he could be a friend and Sasuke had often been curious about the concept of friends. So finally he begrudgingly allowed the kid to follow us. We'd finished exploring the orphanage and had exited with all three of us out the other exit and soon we were crawling back towards town again. I'd had to try enhancing my small limbs with chakra as Naruto had proven way too energetic for my own good. He'd sped past me so many times I thought I'd have to find him a leash.

Now we were pretty much on the other side of town after having napped off some exhaustion in a cart of flowers that'd been on its way to a flower shop somewhere for delivery. We'd made it to a part of town I didn't quite recognize so now it was truly time to start exploring.

We travelled down a few streets that looked interesting although there weren't as many people. I guess that was probably because we weren't in the shopping district. As we got further down this one road, I started to feel some chakra pulsating. I led the way in that general direction. Finally we came to a road where there was a wooden fence on one side and a chained fence on the other. Crawling up to it, we peek through and saw a bunch of people.

It was the academy. We were watching a class of students practicing their jutsus. One boy transformed into another boy. One girl managed to clone herself and another used a substitution. The teacher meanwhile was going around and observing, making a few adjustments here and a few more there. Beside me, Naruto used the fence to pull himself up onto his legs. I stood too as did Sasuke. After a few more seconds, Naruto's chakra fluxed excitedly and he began bouncing up and down and pointing towards them. I nodded.

He thought that what the students were doing was entertaining and exciting. I giggled at his eagerness to learn what it was. Suddenly Sasuke started poking me until I turned to him and he pointed towards someone in the grounds. I turned and was shocked to see Izumi there. Although I suppose it shouldn't be that shocking. Only Itachi managed to graduate the academy within a year of joining.

 _'He's going'_ Sasuke said and I turned to see Naruto had crawled off towards the entrance. I grinned at Sasuke.

 _'Let's go too,'_ I suggested. I started running after Naruto and Sasuke got down to crawl after me. Once there was an opening in the fence we went inside and instead of going to find the training ground, we followed Naruto who was charging ahead into the building.

It was certainly big, especially at this size. When we came to the indoor target practice area which was empty I couldn't decide where to go next and neither could Naruto for that matter. He just stopped and seated himself down to look about for somewhere to go. I was starting to think we should go find a classroom to barge in on when Sasuke signaled me to follow him down another hallway.

I got Naruto's attention and we followed my older brother to wherever it was he wanted to go. Eventually we came to a staircase and we started to climb it. I had to stay back and help Naruto who was a bit off balance. If he fell backwards that wouldn't be pretty. Finally we made it to the second floor and we watched as a class of kids sat outside in the hallway and excitedly conversed while they painted some signs. Naruto of course having been drawn in by the pretty colours crawled over fast and got their attention. We followed.

I listened to them exchange words, wondering where we'd come from or if somebody had brought us in and we'd wandered off. Whatever they were planning to do ended as Naruto put his hands directly in the paint. He flexed his now yellow and blue hands in curiosity. Then he almost put his hand in his mouth. I was quick to smack it away and he looked at me hurt as though he'd been smacked before. I felt somewhat sorry.

However, he needed to know so I shook my head and let my emotional chakra fluxes explain that eating the paint would be bad and subconsciously I allowed an image of my past life's sister doing the same thing and getting really sick to enter my mind. It was if he'd seen it to for he became somewhat frightened by that notion and looked ready to cry. Sasuke saved the day though when he too got his hands dirty and showed him what he could do with the paint. They started making small pictures on the poster sized sign.

The kids meanwhile laughed and decided to help them paint, not minding the extra help so I too joined in. Things were going fine until Sasuke decided to be a little pest and paint my shirt. Naruto laughed as I got mad at him and to get back at him, I put paint on his shirt. Big mistake because then the boys decided to team up and chase me with paint on their hands. The kids were laughing so hard they attracted the attention of their classmates, one in particular whom I used as shield. Needless to say he got his pants painted as the boys attacked. I stuck my tongue out at them after peeking around to see they'd stopped and Sasuke gave me a pouty look while Naruto just continued laughing.

" _What the…_ " the boy said. I looked up to see a surprised face looking down at me and not just any face. It was Iruka Umino. More than likely one of our future teachers. He was younger and appeared to be one of the students. I just grinned up at him innocently. He continued to glance around at us and then his eyes fell on Naruto. He was still smiling and clapping like an idiot. Then he bent down and picked Naruto up.

" _You are…_ " he said and I became somewhat worried for Naruto's sake as Iruka hadn't come to know him like last time and a baby wasn't someone you could get on a personal level with – well unless you were doing what I was doing. I thought of images of he and Naruto together having ramen; him scolding him for pulling a prank and even thought of the final words of his parents. I'm not sure why but after I'd let those images get tangled with my chakra and do what it usually did before blinking myself out of a stupor, I sensed Iruka relaxing a bit and gazing curiously at Naruto.

Then Naruto's paint covered hand came up and landed on his cheek. They stayed frozen like that for a while but Sasuke and I lost it as Naruto began playing with his face and getting it covered in paint. He laughed too and kicked excitedly his energy unable to be contained in midair. The other kids had started laughing too, pointing at Iruka's baffled face. One more slightly toothy baby grin from Naruto and I saw Iruka relaxing more and laughing as well.

Then he put Naruto down and dipped his fingers into the paint as well. Next he painted a small mustache and swirly cheeks onto Naruto's face. The kid looked startled and didn't completely understand what was going on but Sasuke and I were laughing ourselves silly. Then I grew an evil look on my face as I came up with the perfect revenge.

I went over, wiped off the paint I'd used earlier, went for the pink girl colour then while Sasuke was distracted, I crept up on him and tackled him, drawing my own kind of mustache on his face. When I was done I backed up giggling as Sasuke brought a hand up to feel his face. Then he turned to me, fire in his eyes.

 _'Oh so that's…how it is?'_ his inner voice spoke in a warning tone. I laughed but stopped as I noticed he'd picked up the whole bottle of lime green paint and stood on two legs. A feeling of dread slowly crawled up my spine.

 _'Your turn'_ he declared and started coming for me. I yelped and stood abruptly then ran in the opposite direction. He chased me and the kids started laughing again. Naruto clapped and giggled watching the whole scene and I couldn't help but think 'traitor' bitterly and childishly. What was worse was I think Sasuke was starting to get faster on his legs.

Eventually, he chased me down the hallway and around the corner. I knew he wouldn't give up until he'd caught me. So when I came to a set of stairs, I sat down and began going as quickly as I could downwards butt scooch style. He only followed me.

At the bottom, I ran through the front entrance and out into the schoolyard not caring who saw me, just thinking of getting away from my older brother who wanted revenge. Heh irony! I don't think I took notice of where I was until I reached the base of the steps to the mountain. I didn't even stop to check and see if he was behind me, I just went and started crawling up the stairs.

It took forever and a lot of my energy but finally I made it up to the top of the mountain, crawled out to the top of one of the heads and collapsed. Never before in my short second life had I ever gone that fast and hard before. I doubted Sasuke could've kept up and poor Naruto was probably left alone with all those teachers. So I took a deep breath and started dozing off.

About an hour later and I was waking up with a shriek as I felt cold liquid hitting me in the head and on the belly. I bolted up to see the grinning face of not only Sasuke but Naruto as well who'd started clapping his hands and laughing at my expense. Looking down I noticed I was covered not only in lime green paint but neon blue as well. I would've gotten them back too but I didn't exactly have paint, I was wondering how they found me up here without getting caught and I was too tired from coming up here so fast. I noticed they were tired too. I grumbled as I glared at Sasuke.

 _'You win this round,'_ I told him. He smiled largely and brightly with triumph. I sat up and looked about. The sun was starting to go down; it'd be dinner time soon. Then I nearly had a heart attack as I noticed Naruto – who'd somewhere along the line had taught himself to walk – heading over to the edge of the head we were on. I tried to send a chakra flux at him but I'd tuckered myself out. He was getting too close and not paying attention. Then I felt a swell of emotional chakra head out in his direction causing the blonde to pause the moment he felt it. He turned with a surprised look on his face that matched my own as I knew it'd been Sasuke who'd stopped him.

He shook his head understanding that Naruto wouldn't comprehend his thoughts but rather his emotions. He told him with his emotions that going over the edge would be bad. Then all of a sudden a memory of ours flashed into my head where Sasuke had tried climbing out of the crib after me once but had fallen and gotten hurt. I blinked in confusion as I know I hadn't been thinking of that at all. In fact I'd been thinking of the time my last life's brother had fallen out of a tree. It was kind of strange because I could also sense some of Sasuke's chakra behind it.

Once again, Naruto became frightened and started to come back to us. However, as he did, he went too fast and tripped, dropping his own opened bottle of paint which not only spilled but went rolling off over the edge of the head. I blinked and shared a look with Sasuke before I crawled over to the edge myself and noticed that the paint bottle had tipped its contents out and onto the nose of the hokage. Naruto had just committed his first act of vandalism to the monument…by accident. I giggled some at the implications and asked him to hand me the second bottle of paint he'd brought up with him.

The first colour had been the neon blue he'd covered me with. I threw the yellow paint he'd been attracted to earlier out over the edge and watched as it flipped in the air and instead of just dumping its contents on the monument, shattered and caused the paint to go splat. I giggled and gestured to Sasuke who'd come over to see. I told him to throw his paints too. He had another paint bottle in his hand as he'd grabbed it during his chase of me and handed it over to Naruto. Then he chucked the lime green one down over the side too.

We all giggled as it too shattered and painted the hokage's eye and dribbled down his cheek. Next Naruto threw the last one which was a vibrant red and it hit the tip of the nose cracking and rolling down until it smashed open and smeared the hokage's lips. We burst out into raucous laughter. Then I yawned and lifted a hand to rub my eye but was reminded it was still dirty when I smeared paint over myself. Another evil grin came to me and I found energy enough to stand up and spread open my arms catching the boys by surprise. I grinned.

 _'Brother, friend…I want a hug…'_ I sing sang in my head. He looked absolutely mortified as he put two and two together. Then he communicated with Naruto and the two ran away from me as fast as they could. Now the chased had become the chaser.

* * *

 ** _Iruka_**

I continued to look around for the little toddlers who'd somehow managed to give us all the slip. As soon as we'd asked the teacher if anyone had brought their babies to work today, she'd told us she didn't know any of the teachers who had a baby. Then I'd gotten to thinking of how two of those babies had had the Uchiha crest sewn into their clothing and I'd thought of the one who was the jailor of the fox who'd killed my parents not too long ago.

At first it'd been hard to hold him and see him as a baby. But then those images had intruded my mind. I was older and so was the boy and we got along together. There were times we were both eating ramen at my favourite noodle bar and others where I was scolding him because of some prank he'd pulled and it looked like I was his teacher. I continued to wonder if that was real.

Then I'd seen the face of the fourth hokage who with his wife were looking down on the same baby and telling them how they knew his life would be rough but also that he was strong enough to pull through. They'd given him their blessings and then the beast had been sealed inside. I honestly didn't know what to think of that. The only thing that came to mind after that little spiel was that maybe I shouldn't look at the child as some monster and that he was the fourth hokage's son. At least that's what the images had implied.

Now it was the end of the long day and I was still looking for them not having anyone to return to at home. It was getting increasingly irritating and the adults who'd been looking weren't having any luck either.

"Come on," I grumbled. "Where on earth did you go?" I glanced about from the lower levels of the academy since they'd gone downstairs.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted me from behind. I stood up and turned to see a kid not much younger than me standing before me. Judging by looks alone, I assumed he was that famous Uchiha who'd graduated after only a year in the academy.

"Yes?" I questioned. He approached.

"You wouldn't have happened to see two toddlers come through here would you?" My eyes widened.

"Yes as a matter of fact though there were three toddlers. I know two of them were from the Uchiha clan because they had the emblem sewn onto their shirts. But they ran off and somehow disappeared without a trace." He nodded.

"Yes well…Mitsu is crafty enough." I blinked non-comprehendingly.

"Mitsu?" I questioned. He turned back to me.

"My little sister. My little brother is called Sasuke and then I believe Naruto Uzumaki got out of the orphanage today. At least…that's the mess I came home to after my mission. My mother has been in a panic ever since they got out."

"Are you sure they got out by themselves?" I asked. He nodded.

"Believe it or not they're smarter than they look; especially Mitsu. She's also the more mischievous one." I nodded as a smirk tugged on my lips.

"I can believe that," I admitted. "The reason we lost them was because they ended up playing in the paint we were using to create signs for a school event coming up and then she painted a pink mustache I believe on her brother. Then he got up and chased after her after grabbing a bottle of paint and then another one. Naruto did too after he figured out how to walk. I could tell it was his first time since he tripped sometimes following them." I couldn't help but chuckle at the memory.

"I see," he replied. Then he began looking around. "Then perhaps we should be looking for paint splotches. I know Sasuke would be trying to get her back and wouldn't quit even if he had to resort to crawling after her." I nodded then began looking around too.

"Oh Itachi!" a female shouted from nearby. We turned to see Izumi Uchiha – from another class – coming over to us. She looked concerned.

"I heard about what happened with Mitsu and Sasuke. Are they alright?" she wondered. Itachi just glanced at her and nodded.

"I know Mitsu wouldn't let any harm come to Sasuke and Sasuke's the same way about Mitsu." She nodded. Then she glanced up and huffed with annoyance, putting her hands on her hips.

"Ugh, how rude!" she exclaimed. We looked at her with surprise. She pointed up to the mountain behind the school.

"Somebody's put graffiti on one of the monument's faces!" I found myself whirling around and seeing what she meant. There was some colour added now to lord third's nose. Then a splash of red appeared on the tip that proceeded to smear on the lips below. My eyes widened.

"How did they…" I tried to ask but Itachi was already racing off towards the monument. "Hey wait up!" I called after him.

"I'm coming too!" Izumi proclaimed. We followed after Itachi who was running up the face of the cliff while we took the stairs. Along the way I paused and knelt down to pick up a dripping bottle of orange paint. Izumi glanced at me curiously.

"What's that?" she wondered. I glanced back.

"The same colour of paint Naruto took with him when he followed Mitsu and Sasuke," I explained. We needed no more prompting as we raced up the steps of the monument.

* * *

 ** _Itachi_**

As soon as I had confirmation on their location I was off. There was no telling what could happen if there was a child who didn't know their ways with them. And it wasn't just any child it was mom's friend's child, Naruto. I'd heard enough from cousin Obito to know just how much energy he had and how much of a loose cannon he was.

I wasted no time with the stairs and just raced up the cliff then leapt onto the top of the head. There was Mitsu all covered in quickly drying paint chasing Sasuke and Naruto around for a hug and probably trying to get them just as dirty as her. All she was managing however was to flick some droplets of paint into their hair and onto their clothes. I was also impressed to see Naruto had learned not only how to walk but to run. He and Sasuke were keeping up a good pace ahead of her but only because she looked so tired from today's physical exertion. I sighed as I walked up towards them.

Sasuke noticed me and tugged Naruto to follow him almost making the blonde fall but managing to balance himself as he followed Sasuke behind me. Since Mitsu was close behind them, she didn't stop until she ran right into my leg and fell on her bottom. When she looked up to see me she seemed to come to realize the gravity of her situation. She somehow managed to smile sheepishly at me; something only a child-like Mitsu could accomplish.

"You're in trouble," I told her simply and the smile was replace by a frowny pout. I heard panting and turned to see the kid I'd talked to earlier and Izumi racing up the stairs.

"Hoo, there you are!" he exclaimed out of breath. Naruto waved at him excitedly from behind me.

"Oh Itachi; you found them!" Izumi exclaimed as well. The two came over while catching their breath. The boy carried a bottle of paint with him. Meanwhile, I continued to stare down at Mitsu who squirmed under my gaze. Good, maybe the guilt will teach her a lesson. I heard Sasuke laugh behind me and witnessed as Mitsu's face flushed red as she glared at him. Then she noticed the bottle of paint dangling from the boy's hand.

"How…did they even…get up here that fast?" he asked still panting some. Izumi giggled.

"They must just have the kind of energy only babies can have," She suggested. I smiled at her answer. Then I watched as Mitsu made her way over to the boy and managed to snatch the bottle of orange. The boy noticed.

"H-hey!" he declared. An evil smirk registered on her face as she then began to chase Sasuke around again and meanwhile Naruto sat down and cheered only to get up again and run as she came after him. I rolled my eyes at the display.

"Haven't you two caused enough havoc today?" I asked. The boy with the scar on his nose blinked in astonishment.

"Wow…your sister can hold a grudge," he exclaimed.

"Uh…should we be stopping them or just…maybe find somebody to film it?" asked Izumi. I noticed Naruto was falling behind more as he clearly hadn't run this long before on his legs. He kept getting orange specs on his person even though he tried to keep running. However, finally his legs gave out and he tripped and got creamed by Mitsu as she ran past to keep after Sasuke. He started to whine a little, his bottom lip quivering.

"Naruto!" exclaimed an excited, loud and familiar voice. We turned to see that Obito and his teammates had arrived. He rushed forth and scooped up the blonde in his arms.

"Oh you naughty boy," he cried. "Don't you dare ever scare us like that again! Also, please don't leave us alone with Rin like that…she got so violent when you were gone!" he whimpered. I could see some bruises on him and Kakashi as they approached.

"I would ask how they managed to slip past us and then end up here but uh…I don't think I'd be able to understand that answer," Kakashi stated. Rin came up to stand by me as I watched Mitsu and Sasuke get whatever it was they were doing out of their system.

"Well somebody's gonna need a bath tonight," she exclaimed. "Mitsu's more paint than Mitsu." I nodded.

"I think Sasuke and Naruto gained up on her. Their faces are painted after all." I pointed out.

"Oh well…" the boy from earlier muttered. "I'm the one who painted Naruto's face because well…he painted mine. But he just laughed about it."

"Huh, that's okay he looks kind of cute like this," Obito replied. "Yes you do; yes you do," he continued with baby talk. Naruto grinned a toothy grin and wiped some paint onto Obito's face too since he was freshly covered thanks to Mitsu. Obito froze in shock while I tried to hold back a snicker as did Kakashi. Rin and Izumi however took advantage to laugh at the situation as did the other boy.

"Heh, that was my reaction," he stated. Then he and Obito burst out laughing much like the girls. Next however, there was a slight disturbance behind us and the next people to arrive were none other than Lord Third himself and Father. They approached the scene as well.

"So this is where the little devils got to," father muttered as he watched Sasuke and Mitsu. However, once he noticed he was there, Sasuke turned and made a beeline on shaky legs towards father so he could hide from his sister. Naruto began bouncing with leftover energy and Obito put him down on his bum for a minute.

Mitsu didn't stop at Father's leg however and tried to reach behind him to get to Sasuke. I rolled my eyes at how childish she was being even though technically she was a toddler and she was allowed to be so. Sasuke started whining while my father leant down and scooped her up making her drop the bottle of paint from her hands.

"Alright; that's enough of that," my father stated sternly. "Itachi, take Sasuke will you?" I nodded and approached Sasuke, reaching out and scooping him up too. The twins shared a brief moment where Mitsu looked really mad and Sasuke smugly stuck his tongue out at her. I couldn't help the chuckle that escaped me. A light one also escaped the third.

"I suppose your daughter's more special than we originally thought. It's a good thing Itachi figured out this was her doing otherwise there could've been a panic."

"Yes," my father agreed. "And despite their young age, she and Sasuke will be punished." He gave a stern look to Mitsu who squirmed under it and tried to look anywhere else. I could also tell that the drying paint was starting to irritate her. A small giggle echoed and called our attention.

"Hey Naruto what're you doing?" exclaimed Obito again. The blonde had snuck away and was standing quite close to the edge of the rock with the bottle of paint. He then raised it and threw it over the side where it smashed opened on the hokage's other eye and started to dribble down. He clapped his hands in delight and jumped around.

"Naruto; that's vandalism!" Obito tried to tell him. However the kid just continued to clap and happily made his way back towards us on his own two feet. Rin squealed.

"Oh! Naruto; he's running! He took his first steps after all!" she exclaimed excitedly. Then she grumbled.

"Damn it I wish I could've seen it!" Then Naruto went to trip but the boy from earlier was there in an instant to catch him wearing a stern look.

"Geez kid, you're just super hyperactive aren't ya? I mean you keep going too fast so you end up tripping!" Naruto only bounced in his arms and made baby noises. I rolled my eyes at the scene.

"I see you've met Naruto Iruka," the hokage stated. Iruka turned to regard him with a nod then a smile.

"Uh yes sir," he said. "He and the twins managed to barge in on us while we were making some signs for the school events for next week in the hallway. That's how they got started playing with the paints. He painted my face actually," he chuckled and pointed to the paint on his face he still hadn't cleaned off. The hokage chuckled as he held his pipe.

"Well it's nice to know they were able to have some fun today. Now why don't we get these kids somewhere to be cleaned up?" he suggested. Father nodded then turned to Obito.

"You can bring Naruto over to clean him up at our place. I expect you to be there too Kakashi!" Father told them sternly. They blinked and exchanged a curious look.

"Why?" they asked at the same time. Father smirked.

"Wasn't it your irresponsibility that let Naruto slip past you in the first place? You're going to take some responsibility for this. Rin you can come too and make sure they get it done right!" Rin grinned.

"Yes sir," she said as she gave her two teammates a somewhat evil side glance. They gulped. Iruka meanwhile chuckled as he handed the baby Naruto over to Kakashi as he was nearest to him.

"Well, I've stayed out long enough," he stated. "I'm glad everything worked out for you in the end and that none of them got hurt. I'll be going home now; good evening." He turned to leave.

"Boy what's your name?" Father asked.

"Uh, Iruka Umino sir," he said. Father nodded then he looked back at him with a softened expression that held a smile.

"Iruka why don't you come to the district for dinner tonight?" he offered. "I'd like to thank you for helping keep my kids safe and continuing to look out for them too." Iruka blinked with surprise.

"R-really sir?" he wondered. "I mean…well gee I didn't really do anything really. Itachi's the one who found them in the end." Father chuckled.

"Still, you kept an eye on them while they were with your class today so I'm grateful. It wouldn't be any trouble at all for us!"

"Well…I guess…if you really don't mind," Iruka struggled. Obito just sighed in exasperation.

"C'mon kid just accept the invite. It'd be rude not to," he said.

"Well…okay then. I accept!" he said and bowed formally. I then turned to Lord third.

"Sorry that my brother and sister threw paint on your face lord hokage," I apologized for them. I bowed deeply making Sasuke do so too though he didn't quite understand that and gripped me tighter thinking he was going to fall. The third just chuckled.

"No, no, not to worry. I'm more relieved they didn't fall off the cliff. Besides, I can always have a genin squad clean it up tomorrow." I remained bowed.

"Pleas sir; could you assign that mission to my squad?" I begged. "I really wish to take responsibility for this."

"If you ask me, we should be the ones to clean it," Rin stated off to the side. "After all, our orange ball of energy helped out too!" I straightened and turned to her with a smile.

"I know but Mitsu and Sasuke are my siblings and they're the ones who got Naruto into this situation to begin with. Besides, we still have to wash them up too and I'm certain you'll come up with other ways to punish your teammates!" I noticed as Obito shuddered.

"Should we be worried about how he said that with such a smile on his face?" he questioned Kakashi. He simply nodded.

"That and we should also be worried about Rin's and Kokoyo's wrath," he agreed. Obito nodded then trembled.

"Hey you don't think Kushina's ghost will rise from the grave to strangle us tonight do you?" he asked. I noticed Kakashi shuddered.

"What'd be worse; her or sensei?" he wondered. Obito shivered again and gulped.

"How about both?" I suggested causing them to freeze in mortal terror. I laughed lightly at their rigid postures as Rin shook her head in their direction. Father laughed too. He walked by them as he began to head towards the stairs of the walkway.

"Not to worry boys. If their ghosts don't come after you I'm sure Mikoto will get the job done just as thoroughly." Now they were pale causing the third to laugh.

"To be honest, I think the thoughts running through their heads about either or torturing them are enough. At the very least; I don't think they'll be as inattentive again." The two viciously shook their heads. Meanwhile Naruto burst out laughing and clapping at their fear probably being entertained by their horrified looks. Once again the third chuckled then turned to me.

"At any rate, if the mission is still available by the time you come in tomorrow for an assignment then I'll see about letting you take it. Of course I could also just assign the mission to you along with these two but again I'll have to see," he said while indicating Kakashi and Obito as the other two. I nodded, understanding what he meant. I then straightened again and readjusted Sasuke in my arms. I then smiled as I took notice of Mitsu.

"Father I think we should get home and get them cleaned up right away. Mitsu looks spent from today's activities." Father glanced to the side to see Mitsu who was barely awake playing with the shoulder of his flak jacket. She was barely holding her eyes open. I noticed that Sasuke was a bit more awake than her but not by much and Naruto was less bouncy than before and yawning whilst stretching in Kakashi's arms. My father smiled then nodded.

"Yes. Let's be off then," he told everyone. He and lord third bid one another farewell and we headed for the stairs. I turned to Izumi as we walked down, feeling a small blush on my cheeks as small butterflies danced in my stomach. I wonder why that happens every time I'm near her. It's been happening a lot more lately. What if it gets worse?

"Um…I could walk you home after dinner," I told her while glancing her way then to the ground. She blushed too and turned away playing with her hair nervously.

"Oh well, I wouldn't want to intrude and it seems Obito's team might take up some space," she said. I shook my head.

"You helped too. You noticed where to find them," I tried to convince her. "You can always call your Grandmother to let her know you won't be home for dinner." I said the last part more quietly.

"Well…" she trailed off.

"You're welcome at our table tonight if you wish," Father told her from the front. She blushed again and I knew I was too for the same inexplicable reason. She finally nodded.

"Alright," she agreed. I smiled, my face warming up more and my butterflies getting more excited. Seriously…what's wrong with me?

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

I barely did anything except play with father's jacket sleeve at the shoulder. For some reason, I felt more exhausted than Sasuke did and I could sense he was still more awake than I was.

As soon as we'd arrived home, mother had embraced us both with tears in our eyes while she scolded us not caring if some of the paint on us wasn't all that dry yet. Next up was the bath. The water was so warm and soothing on my aching muscles. I must've been using up more chakra than I thought just to get back at Sasuke and Naruto for dumping paint on me. My body felt so heavy; like a rock.

Of course, since the boys were being bathed together, they'd started their own little game of splash with the bubbles. However, when they splashed me trying to get my attention I could only give a halfhearted splash back. When Sasuke tried to ask me what was wrong I didn't catch it till the second try. That's how tired I was. The only funny thing to come out of this was how wet or practically soaked Kakashi and Obito were when they were done trying to bathe Naruto and Sasuke. Mom and Rin had watched them to make sure they didn't make any mistakes while Iruka also peeked in at some point to hand them towels and to wash his own face off. He promptly got splashed by Naruto who was squealing with delight while he had bubbles in his hair and he and Sasuke were enjoying themselves.

Then once we were done, I just wanted to go right to bed but I had to fight through the fatigue for dinner. I began nodding off halfway through as the murmuring of voices surrounding me was lulling me to sleep. However, I managed to eat enough where I was able to be content before my mother removed the food from my baby tray table and wiped up my mouth clean. Once again I'm so tired I couldn't even be neat with my food.

Next I was taken out of my highchair – or rather just my baby chair since they sat traditional style at a traditional table – and taken out with the boys to the sitting area where the adults all talked for a bit with Iruka there as well. Meanwhile, the meal seemed to have given Sasuke and Naruto back their energy a little bit so they were playing with Sasuke's toys on the ground. I really wanted to lie down and rest but for some reason I felt I'd be embarrassed in doing so since I'd made a big deal of being leader to Sasuke and Naruto all day.

As I was nodding off again, Sasuke interrupted my foggy mind with his thoughts.

 _'Sis…did you have fun today?'_ he asked. I smiled at him through my haze and nodded.

 _'Yeah,'_ I replied. God even my thoughts were sounding tired.

 _'And…we made a friend didn't we?'_ he wondered. I nodded again.

 _'Mm hm! The grownups are calling him…Naruto,'_ I told him. He smiled at me.

 _'Naruto is fun to play with.'_ He paused uncertainly. _'Sis…are we only friends for today?'_ he asked. I chuckled some and shook my head.

 _'No way! Even if we don't see him for a long…for a long…a long…time. We can…still be…friends. Who knows…maybe…we'll play again tomorrow…or the next day…or the next day…or the…'_ I trailed off. Even conveying thoughts between us was making me tired. He smiled then nodded. I smiled back feeling my eyes droop again.

* * *

 ** _Sasuke_**

Sis looked sleepy. I guess she is more tired than I thought. Even Naruto thinks so too. We looked at each other and I told him like how I used to tell sis things with what she told me was chakra and…e-mo-shun? – To go and get her blanket that was by Tachi's friend that sat at the little table.

He did and then he came back and gave it to me while I grabbed sis's fa-bor-it toy to sleep with from the place she left it this morning. I helped her lie down and use the toy as a pi-wo and Naruto put the blanket on her. We watched as she fell as-weep slowly. Then I heard mud-der make a sound and so did ev'ry-won else. They only make that sound when I do some-thing cute! But I only put sis to bed. Why is that cute?

* * *

 ** _Iruka_**

I couldn't help but laugh. While the others were busy talking about something else, I'd noticed that Naruto had waddled over to the table we sat at and had picked up a blanket from beside Izumi. Then I watched as he'd waddled back over to the other two babies in the room. I laughed again.

"Looks like Mitsu's beat," I commented getting everyone's attention on me then on them. We watched as Sasuke pushed her down gently on top of a stuffed Panda and as Naruto put the blanket over her. She finally fell asleep just like that and an audible 'aw' could be heard from all of the girls present.

"Isn't that just precious?" questioned Kokoyo from the orphanage. She'd been invited over too after being worried over Naruto's sudden disappearance all day. I smiled at the heartwarming sight as Naruto and Sasuke decided to take their playing over to where she rested in order to watch over her. They also were courteous enough to keep the volume down as well. I could tell though that they'd be joining her soon enough as they looked tired themselves. I chuckled.

"You know…something interesting happened today," I said.

"Other than three babies running loose inside your school?" Mikoto Uchiha asked with a cocked eyebrow. I chuckled again.

"Well…it was when I recognized Naruto…ya know…as the uh…" I didn't know how to put it without seeming awkward and breaking the rule. Fugaku Uchiha however smiled and nodded for me to continued so I did.

"Well, I recognized him as the baby that the nine tails was sealed into and…at first I have to admit…I was angry and uncomfortable being so close to him. I just didn't know how to feel about it because all I could think about was how the nine tails killed my parents a year ago. It was almost painful," I admitted. I scratched my nose sheepishly then looked away somewhat embarrassed.

"But then…it was like these images were in my head and I was seeing different things," I explained. The Uchiha's exchanged looks with one another.

"What kind of things?" Kakashi asked from his spot. I glanced up at them feeling kind of awkward about it. What if they didn't believe me? Should I chance it?

"Uh…um…well…" Aw what the hell? "I was older…and so was Naruto. I think I was an academy teacher and I was his academy teacher. I would be scolding him for pulling a prank or not paying attention in class at one point but then I'd be eating Ichiraku Ramen and chatting with him like he was family the next.

"Then when I returned back to reality, I didn't see the fox anymore…I just saw him. I saw Naruto as just Naruto. A toddler running rampant with his toddler friends and causing mischief. Um…that's kind of why I painted his face too after he painted mine. I don't know why exactly but it felt like having a younger brother of my own for some reason." I finished and noticed everyone was staring at me. I blushed and looked down at my tea.

"Heh, you all probably think I'm crazy don't you?" I questioned. Fugaku just chuckled.

"Heh, no not at all. That's actually been happening around here a lot lately," he replied.

"Huh?" I pressed.

"Looks like you were experiencing Mitsu vision," Obito laughed. "Don't worry you're not the only one!"

"I'm not? Uh…Mitsu vision?" Mikoto placed a reassuring hand on my arm.

"Mitsu actually has a more active chakra network than most children her age as does Sasuke. Somehow she's able to show others visions of not only the past but the future. You probably saw visions of your future self with Naruto's future self." I blinked in astonishment. Then I glanced at the sleeping child beside us. However while I looked about for Naruto I noticed that he and Sasuke were missing.

"Hey; where'd the other two…" I was cut off as I felt something small crawling into my lap. I looked down to see a blue eyed Naruto looking up at me curiously while he drooled some onto my knee. He held the toy lion he apparently loved too much and that Kokoyo had brought over for him in the other hand. Meanwhile, Sasuke had grabbed his green dinosaur and was currently in between Izumi and Itachi looking about ready to nod off to la-la land. I glanced back down at Naruto who'd climbed all the way into my lap and was now holding up his lion for me to see.

"Um…what do you want me to do?" I wondered. He waved in front of me still wanting me to do something. I looked to the others for help. Rin laughed.

"Press its paw," she said. I blinked then turned and did just that. The lion spoke up.

 _"I'm Goldheart the lion,"_ it said. _"Let's be best friends!"_ I blinked in astonishment then glanced at the little blonde who'd grown a hyper active smile and began bouncing around before turning around abruptly and sitting in my lap. I looked up wondering what was going on and noticed Rin and Kokoyo were laughing. Kakashi had smirked and Obito was sniggering.

"What?" I asked.

"It looks like he's found a new friend today," Mikoto commented as she too joined in laughing.

"Oh I think he's found three actually," Kokoyo pointed out. Rin nodded in affirmation. Then she turned towards Mikoto.

"Ya know I think he'd benefit more from having other kids his age to play with," she commented. Kokoyo nodded sadly.

"Yes, he gets visits from Rin, Kakashi and Obito almost every day whenever they're not busy and occasionally some from Lord third but…other than that, the other matrons don't want the other kids near him. It's sad to think he'll have no friends if this keeps up and I'm scared what to think when they think he's old enough to live on his own. I'd take him myself but then the other children might start thinking I'm choosing favourites among them." Kokoyo sighed as she watched Naruto play with his lion as he sat in my lap.

"Hm…I suppose we could arrange a few playdates every now and then," Fugaku nodded. Then he turned to me.

"What about you?" he questioned.

"Me?" I asked. He nodded.

"Would you start visiting Naruto at the orphanage? You said you so yourself you felt like a brother to him earlier or…" he paused and I could feel a calculating gaze on me. "…would the fox get in the way again?" I blinked then shook my head.

"No, no it won't," I said. "I think I could visit him after school and whenever I have free time…oh only if it's okay," I stated turning to Kokoyo. She nodded with a smile on her face at me.

"Yes, your visits would probably help the boy more since Rin and her teammates aren't always in the village. They're ninjas so they have missions to do sometimes." I nodded with understanding.

"I'd like to visit him too!" Izumi said. "I mean how could anybody say no to seeing that little face every day?" Kokoyo chuckled.

"Of course; you'll be welcome as well. Oh but if you do come, try and ask for me. The other matrons might try to shoo you away if they know who you're there for. See…they just haven't opened their eyes wide enough to see him as a hero rather than the fox itself. I think that's just sad." Izumi and I nodded simultaneously. I had to wonder…what would happen if Naruto were left all on his own? Would he be alright? Or would the village's hatred for the fox hurt him? I already know from experience that being ignored isn't the greatest. I already get into enough trouble at school just for people's attention. Will Naruto become…just like me?

I shook my head already knowing it was a possibility thanks to those visions. Letting that happen was something I didn't want. So…in order to be the best role model for Naruto…it's time to start working harder and…

"I'm curious Iruka," Fugaku started, interrupting me from my thoughts. I turned to face him.

"Yes sir?" I asked. He paused as though to ponder his next words carefully before facing me again.

"How're you doing in school?" he asked. "I know it might seem a bit forward of me but…what are your chances of passing?" I blinked not entirely expecting that.

"Oh well…" I looked down and sighed. "To tell the truth sir…I haven't been doing too good lately. I…it's just…I…"

"I know your parents were very exceptional shinobi," he said catching me off guard again. "They made a very big sacrifice for this village as did many other shinobi including the fourth hokage himself. If it hadn't been for them and those who'd fought so bravely on the front lines then there would've been a lot more casualties that night." He glanced at me.

"I heard about that sacrifice through the grapevine but Mikoto here truly knew them as she used to fight alongside them back in her genin days. We lost a lot of great shinobi that night but we also gained something more." I couldn't tear my gaze from him as I listened.

"We gained a future worth protecting. Through their sacrifice the future of the village and its younger generation was protected and now we who survived must now protect that future they gave their lives for. So that means…we must work extra hard to keep it safe. As chief of police that responsibility falls heavily onto my shoulders as it does to many other shinobi and even the civilian villagers. Soon enough, you too will come to the age where you must also join the ranks of the many protectors here in any way you can to help the future of our people thrive. Even something small can become something great and you'll have fought valiantly as your parents did before you.

"So chin up! They gave their lives for the future and you're still here so make the most of it. Make it count!"

I wiped the tears from eyes that'd started falling. First the hokage and now the chief of police. They'd both told me what I needed to know; what I should've known from the start. I now know what I want to do. I glanced up at him again with a determined smile on my face.

"Thank you sir!" I said. "I'll take yours and the third's words to heart. I promise to start picking my grades up in school so that I too can protect the future…for everyone!" I glanced down to see Naruto now sleeping peacefully against me. He held his toy lion close to him like a pillow and clutched my pant leg where he slept on my knee. Izumi giggled across the table.

"This one's asleep too!" she said as Sasuke rested in between her and Itachi, his head on Izumi's leg and his arm lazily slung over his dinosaur. Itachi looked at him fondly. Mikoto then stood up and picked Sasuke up from her leg and took him over to the door. She glanced back at Fugaku.

"It's getting late. Maybe you should walk with Kokoyo and Naruto?" she questioned. He nodded.

"Sure he agreed." He looked over to me. "I'll walk you home too Iruka." I nodded. Then Itachi stood up and offered a hand out to Izumi.

"I can walk you home now," he said. She paused then nodded and took the proffered hand. She stood and followed Itachi to the front door to get ready to go. Rin then stood up and stretched to the ceiling.

"I guess we should head out too." She suggested to the other two. Obito agreed vocally while Kakashi just nodded his head. I smiled as they all thanked Fugaku and Mikoto for dinner and the tea. Mikoto came back in and accepted it as she then proceeded to Pick Mitsu up off the floor and take her to her room as well.

Then as I was walking away from the Uchiha district with my escorts, carrying Naruto part of the way. I looked up to the great hokage faces to the face of the fourth hokage.

 _'So…it'd been a vision of the past and future?'_ I pondered. Then I glanced down at the sleeping child clutching his lion in my arms.

 _'The son of the fourth,'_ I realized. Then smiled. _'Your father must have put a lot of faith in you Naruto. So…I will as well.'_ And that's what I decided to do from then on.


	5. It's Okay to Cry

**_Sasuke_**

 _I woke up in that house again. It still surprised me how different it was from the one I'd come to know as my first home and yet…it still felt like home to me._

 _I was the girl again. I'm not sure why or how but whenever I get out of that bed or just become aware of the room and look into that mirror, I would be the girl. Yet I didn't feel any different than I normally do._

 _The man came in; the one I thought of as father even though I only ever had one father. The same would go for the woman who was also in this house whom I thought of as mother._

 _The girl was the same age as I was whenever I was awake; four. Her room however was not a typical girl's room. It was filled with both girl toys and boy toys. Even so, I enjoyed playing with the toys as much as she did. Sometimes that's all I ever did. My 'parents' would come to check on me from time to time or complain about how messy my room was but then I'd go back to playing with the toys._

 _I had dolls called Barbie dolls and some were big replicas of girls and boys but some were small girls and boys. I don't know why I found them amusing but for some reason it was fun to think of a real life situation and use that as the theme for my games. Since I had a toy school bus for the smaller boy and girl dolls, I often played school. Other times, I pretended the big girl dolls were going out shopping in their pink car._

 _Other times when I wasn't playing with the girl toys, meaning the dolls and the tea set, I'd be playing with the pretend cash register and money while my parents pretended to purchase food. Whenever my parents weren't available, I'd use my many stuffed animals as the customers then take my time pulling them through the line while being their cashier. It was always fun._

 _Then the boy toys included little dinky cars called hot-wheels. Whenever I was good, mom would get me a new one to add to my ever growing collection. Then I'd pretend the cars were alive and add in dad's army vehicle set too._

 _Today wasn't a play day it would seem. My father came to tell me to get dressed since I was in my pajamas and to be by the front door in a little while because it was a surprise. I brightened up getting excited inside. I loved surprises almost as much as I loved playing with my toys or watching movies on the weekends when dad was off from work._

 _Apparently he was in the army which made his job very important. He would protect our country and sometimes others from imminent war and in my eyes that made him the coolest dad ever (whenever I didn't remember my real dad was a police officer in a ninja village)._

 _Meanwhile, my mom was a stay at home one (just like my real mother) and she kept the house in ship shape, took me grocery shopping with her whenever she went out and made sure I was practicing reading and writing along with counting and such._

 _The words weren't written in kanji in my practice books however. Despite that everything was written and everything everyone said here was in another language, I felt I understood them just as well as the language I usually spoke with every day._

 _Not wasting a moment, I quickly cleaned up my game (which was really just me shoving it to the side or organizing it into my big dollhouse), then I hurried and got dressed into some very flashy and girly clothes that for some reason I didn't mind. Then my mother came in and sighed._

 _She muttered something about teaching me some fashion sense before helping me to better match my clothes. When I was all finished getting dressed, I grabbed my change purse with the little bit of money I'd gotten on my last birthday from my grandmothers and relatives then I followed mom out towards the front door._

 _There, we both got dressed to go out (we didn't need to put much on except shoes since it was summertime) and finally exited the house through the front door to find dad waiting out in the vehicle called a van. Our van was blue and since it had a rounded top and similar shape to the car I liked watching in that movie with mom, I called it Herbie. Sometimes I wish it really was a racecar._

 _We set out and I could barely contain my excitement. We listened to some of my favourite songs on the radio as we went. I tried singing along like what my dad was doing but couldn't keep up so I just hummed instead._

 _When we finally stopped, my eyes nearly bugged out of my skull. Before me was a land filled with bright colours, flashing lights and sweet and tantalizing scents that wafted in through the window. We got out of the car, dad prepared the backpack he had brought to carry with him for whatever reason and mom began applying something called sunscreen to my skin._

 _Then we walked up to the entrance. My dad took care of getting us through the spinning thingy after paying the man in the booth and receiving something from him in return. Once through, he wrapped a paper bracelet around my wrist and patted my head._

 _I learned we were at a carnival. There were rides galore and games to play. There were even areas for kids my age to play dress up or play with building blocks. We spent the whole day together. Dad took me through the farmers' course where I learned some things about farming and got to pretend to be a farmer. They both took me on different rides too, like the Ferris wheel, the train, the racecars. I honestly lost count of all of the things we did._

 _Then around lunchtime, dad pulled out the handmade sandwiches from home. They were my favourite kinds and for dessert he'd even brought chocolate wheels with cream inside called Joey Luis's I think. They were good. The reason they'd brought things from home was probably because of how expensive fair food was plus it was unhealthy even though it smelled really good. Nevertheless, they did wind up buying some mini doughnuts and mom let me try the candy apples. We also got cotton candy too._

 _By the time the sun was setting, we'd pretty much worn ourselves out or rather I'd worn mom and dad out with my own energy. That in and of itself was hard work so I was worn out too. Eventually, we said goodbye to the fairgrounds and went home._

 _We had a light dinner and it was as we were eating that my father asked me something._

 _"_ _Alex…do you know why we went to the fair today?" he asked smiling. I looked up from my chicken and taters on my plate with curious eyes. I thought about it then shook my head. Both of my parents smiled then and shared a look with each other. Then my mom spoke up._

 _"_ _It was a celebration," she said. I furrowed my brows._

 _"_ _Celebration?" I asked. She nodded. I thought harder._

 _"_ _But…it's not my birthday," I said. They laughed some._

 _"_ _We know," dad said. I looked between him and mom still confused. Mom laughed again then placed her hand over her stomach._

 _"_ _It was a celebration because I'm pregnant," she explained._

 _"_ _I still don't get it," I said after a while. My dad sighed._

 _"_ _I told ya she wouldn't; time to ship her off to the gypsies," he joked with his usual humor. My mom nudged him in the side lightly with her elbow and he jumped since his sides were so sensitive. She turned back to me._

 _"_ _It means I'm going to have a baby," she explained again. "In other words…you're going to be a big sister Alex!" I froze in shock._

 _"_ _Big sister?" I questioned. She nodded. "Big sister," I repeated. Then it all caught up with me and I couldn't contain my excitement._

 _"_ _I'm gonna be a big sister; I'm gonna be a big sister; a big sister!" I exclaimed as I giggled with glee. My mother laughed as did my father. He reached over and ruffled my hair._

 _"_ _That's right kiddo. What do you think it'll be?" he asked. I smiled, not even having to think about it since it was something I'd already asked for._

 _"_ _A baby brother!" I exclaimed joyfully. "And I will be…the best-est-est big sister ever!" My parents laughed and I did too as I stuffed another tater into my mouth while I stood dancing on my chair. The last thought I had before I woke up as Sasuke again was, '_ _ **I can't wait!** '_

* * *

As the dream faded and I slowly came back to the waking world, I couldn't help but remember the joy I'd felt over the good news that Alex had received. I wondered idly if she really was going to be a good big sister. I smiled and nuzzled my pillow.

Alex was something I really liked about my dreams. It was mostly because she reminded me a lot about Mitsu sometimes even if she looked different and I was seeing things through her eyes. Her parents were nice and her life seemed just as great as ours did. The only difference was that Mitsu and I were of the Uchiha clan and we didn't live in the place the dream parents had taught her was St. Albert, Alberta Canada.

Plus then there was the fact that Mitsu and Alex were totally different girls. One was a dream and the other was my sister.

I rolled over in bed to face her bed across the room through still droopy eyelids. Her covers rose and fell as she breathed in and out. I smiled. Between her and Itachi, sometimes I couldn't figure out who I liked most. But anyways, the sun's rising and we're wasting daylight.

I sat up in my bed and stretched towards the ceiling with a yawn. Next I climbed out of bed and quickly made it the way mother taught me how. I put on my slippers and crept over to my sister's bed. It was just an understanding between us that whoever was up first woke the other one up too. They were allowed to use whatever method they wanted. I grinned mischievously.

Rather than shake her awake as I used to do, I tiptoed to the end of her bed and stealthily undid the edges of the covers. Next I tiptoed over to my dresser where my clothes were kept and opened the topmost drawer. Inside, I kept alongside my socks and underwear a prickly hand held brush I'd snuck from one of my aunt's things when she'd last visited us. We hadn't particularly liked her stuffy attitude and so we hadn't really gotten along with her or her stuck up daughter, our cousin who was just plain annoying.

I pulled out the brush that still had some hair trapped in the bristles and with a somewhat evil grin, tiptoed back to the end of my sister's bed.

First I poked my hand under the blankets, to gently feel around for where her closest foot was. When I found it, I brought my other hand under the blankets and slowly moved the brush with its hairy bristles towards that foot. Did I mention her feet are really sensitive?

My other hand took the brush and slowly, I began to move it around near her feet. A few seconds later and she was pulling her feet up with a groan to avoid the sensation. I snickered but kept quiet. I waited for a bit before I moved the brush to tickle her feet again. She moaned and I saw as her feet moved away more and to the side. I waited a bit more, then I continued. This time she tried to kick at it and I turned the brush some so that the hairiest part would brush up against her foot.

She screamed and jumped up, standing on the pillow end of her bed, eyes widened in panic as I'd successfully made her think there was a creepy crawly under her covers. She panted wildly and looked around. I'd retracted my hands already from the covers and now sat with one arm leaning against her bed and holding the brush, a devilish smile on my face. She finally spotted me.

"Good morning sister," I said. Finally realizing what had happened and noticing the brush in my hand, she narrowed her eyes at me. She growled in my direction.

"Jerk!" she shouted as she threw her pillow in my face. I couldn't stop laughing even after that.

"What," I laughed uncontrollably. "You told me to step up my game," I reminded her. She pouted and finally hopped down from her bed to come over to get her pillow back.

"Shut-up," was all she could retort because she knew she'd told me that too. I wouldn't let go of her pillow as she tried to grab it back.

"It's mine now, you threw it at me," I claimed. She grunted as she pulled against me.

"No it's not, that's not how it works," she snapped back angrily. I laughed.

"Is too," I retorted. It turned into a tug of war with her pillow and eventually we ended up falling over and rolling over one another trying to get it while tugging on it all the while.

"Knock it off Sasuke, gimme my pillow!" she grunted while pulling on her pillow and trying to pry my hand off. I grunted too as I pulled back and kept readjusting my hand fast enough not to lose my grip.

"Not anymore, you threw it at me!" I argued.

"On my side of the room so it's still mine!" she said back. We were soon in a stalemate and something told me if we kept pulling on the thing, it'd rip like that toy we'd gotten as a Rinne Festival present last year. Thankfully, a heavy sigh from the door distracted us from pulling more and we turned to see our mother in the doorway, a laundry basket on her hip and her shaking her head.

"You two," she said, "Why is it whenever I walk in here in the morning you're fighting over something?" Mitsu took our distraction as an opportunity to try and pull her pillow back but I wouldn't let go still even as I tried to think of a good answer. I noticed from the corner of my eye that Mitsu had on an angry pout as she pointed at me.

"Because Sasuke was brushing my feet!" she pouted. Mother raised an eyebrow at us.

"Brushing…your feet?" she asked. I just shrugged and pointed to the brush I'd dropped on the floor earlier as our fight over the pillow started.

"I made her think a creepy crawly was in her bed," I said, making it make sense to her. She thought about it and sighed with a shake of her head.

"Lemme guess…it was payback for the 'moon landing' incident," she said. I grumbled at the reminder but nodded. She was talking about the time that Mitsu, pretending to be an alien, had climbed high up and jumped on me from my dresser across the room. She'd said she'd landed on a foreign planet and for me it had hurt. Of course then again, that had been payback for something else but I couldn't remember what I'd done previously to deserve that.

Again our mother sighed and shook her head at us. Then she glanced at the pillow between us before laying down the law.

"If you rip that then 'both' of you are sleeping without pillows for a week." We both let go of the object as though it was electrified and put our hands behind our backs. She laughed at us and hefted her basket again before turning to walk away. Before she went she called over her shoulder.

"Get dressed you two," she said. Once she was gone, Mitsu sent me another glare before reclaiming her pillow and putting it back on her bed. She made it like we'd been taught and I went over to my dresser to pull out my clothes for the day. I grabbed my light navy blue t-shirt with the high collar and a crest of our clan on the back. Then I grabbed my dark gray pants. It took me no time at all to get changed.

Of course once I'd turned around, Mitsu was dressed too. Apparently she tells me that when she grows boobs like mom in the future because she's a girl, we'll have to have separate rooms or at the very least change separately. Most would see it as odd and inappropriate that a boy and girl would get changed in the same room together but we're brother and sister; twins. We never actually looked while we got changed as was the golden rule but still; I thought that some people overreacted when they learned that detail.

She nudged me as a kind of revenge as we left our room and headed down the hall to the stairs. Once downstairs, we entered the kitchen where mom had already prepared our breakfast. We sat down, thanked Kami for the meal and dug in. When we were finally done, we washed our dishes and then raced to the front door.

"Be careful," our mother called after us.

"We will!" we called back in unison. It was a custom of ours. After breakfast we'd go out and explore around the district a bit. However sometimes Mitsu would convince me to follow her beyond the district walls. Our parents didn't particularly like us going too far away from home at this age but despite my reluctance to follow and defy our parents, I had to admit I enjoyed getting away from the district to explore the rest of our village.

Today was such a day. It had become increasingly easy to slip out. According to Mitsu, our entire clan is being watched because we got out as babies and nearly overthrew the village. I don't know whether or not to believe her but I can't really argue. She'd pointed out the sentries on duty once to prove it so we had to be extra sneaky to get past them. Not that it ever really matters. Itachi or Cousin Obito finds us eventually one way or another.

We finally made it to the marketplace after sprinting from the compound just to be sure we weren't caught. As we slowed to catch our breaths, we heard a bunch of people complaining. When we straightened it was easy to see why.

Graffiti as far as the eye could see was strewn about on walls, roofs and storefronts. I deadpanned.

"Someone's been busy," I muttered. Mitsu also took in the painted walls nodding.

"True; he has gotten better," she observed. I felt a tic mark develop over my left eye.

"That's not what I was talking about," I pointed out. "Why are you always supporting him anyways? He's the worst kind of trouble. I've heard a lot of adults say so." She huffed and turned away from me with crossed arms.

"I support him because nobody else seems to," she retorted hotly. "Besides, you shouldn't judge based on a few crummy adult's opinions. What about cousin Obito and mom and dad? You don't hear them talking trash about him!" I rolled my eyes.

That may be true but I still feel wary about the boy we're discussing. To be honest, I can't figure him out at all. According to our parents we met him when we were babies and ever since they've been trying their best to arrange playdates. However, every time he's over or we go to see him, I still can't put my finger on why he's so infuriatingly confusing.

His bright sunny hair matches his always cheery disposition. Every time I see it, I feel like I want to smack him in the face just for showing it to me but I can't really understand why. For some reason, he feels inclined to try and outdo me in everything. Whether it's balancing on a high wall or trying to throw a shuriken straight. Granted I still need practice on my end but on his, he's simply hopeless.

And yet, ironically…he's my only friend. Other than Mitsu and Itachi, I don't really hang out with anybody else. Whenever we're together we end up fighting one way or another with Mitsu attempting to be the peacekeeper but she doesn't always break us apart. It's almost like she can tell we just 'need' to pummel each other. Again, I don't understand it myself which is one of the reasons I find him so infuriating.

Who am I talking about you might ask. Well his name's Naruto Uzumaki; an orphan without parents and who pulls pranks for a living. At least for now. I always hear him shooting off at certain intervals here and there that someday when he's grown he'll become the hokage despite what he's doing to the village and its villager's now. Case in point, this everlasting graffiti. He'll probably be ordered to clean it up again with Cousin Obito or one of his teammates watching over him. Meanwhile, Mitsu will drag us into it because she hates seeing him all alone. I don't get it really.

"Whatever," I huffed. I just hoped she didn't suggest we go and find him.

"Hey, I think he went that way, c'mon!" she exclaimed. I groaned. So much for hope. I grumbled under my breath as I involuntarily followed my sister out of habit.

We followed the pointed glares and complaints from the adults along with our own unique chakra sensing capabilities until we found his trail and stuck to it. Even as I grumbled about it, I felt that small traitorous part of me get excited. After all, annoyance or not, he's still our only friend.

* * *

 ** _Naruto_**

"Get back here you brat!" the voice of the old geezer shouted. I was hidden safely in a nearby alleyway as he passed; chasing what he thought was me. I snickered to myself. Ticking off adults like that was too easy. If I played my cards right, then I'd be able to evade big bros Obito and Kakashi as well as big sis Rin and even Mr. Uchiha, the police chief. I mean I haven't outlasted them for long before but I've got a good feeling that today I'll get lucky.

I waited for the appropriate amount of time before I crawled to the edge of the alleyway and peeked out. The crowds were moving about as usual and the guy that had been chasing me was nowhere in sight. After another quick scan, I determined that I wasn't going to see him again for a while, so I slipped out and casually started walking down the street, coming to a crossroad I took to be sure to avoid the old coot. As usual, everyone who caught sight of me made way and gave me those chilling looks, like I was some kind of animal. It's annoying but I try not let it bother me. I've been learning how to keep my emotions in check so nobody sees a reason to hurt me more than I already am.

It was nearing noon so it was also getting close to lunch time. So I made my way over to my newest favorite-est spot to eat in the entire village. Ichiraku's Ramen! As I got closer, the incredible scent of ramen met my nostrils. I entered the restaurant and picked a stool.

"Hey big sis Ayame," I called to the lady who works here. She turned around and smiled at me for real.

"Oh, Naruto," she said. "It's so good to see you. I'll bet you're hungry aren't you?" I smiled back shyly.

"Well…I am but…I still don't have any money," I mumbled. She waved away my concern.

"Nonsense, you can pay us back later. So what would you like?" she asked me. I smiled and considered the menu. Then I grinned.

"Miso Pork Ramen!" I declared. She giggled and turned away with a wink to get it ready.

"Coming right up," she said. I grinned and sat on my stool, swinging my feet. I couldn't wait. It seemed to take forever but finally big sis Ayame gave me my ramen and I thanked her before giving a quick prayer, snapping my chopsticks apart and digging in. I didn't even notice the person who sat beside me. I didn't even hear him order otherwise I'd know to eat my ramen up quicker and get the heck outta there.

But I didn't so I sat there slurping my noodles happily and he did the same beside me. Finally, I finished my noodles and the pork and egg and went ahead to start drinking the broth. Its warm tastiness ran down my throat until there wasn't a single drop left. Finally I pulled back the bowl from my lips and put it down on the counter with a happy sigh. That was really good. Somehow, whenever I come here, their ramen seems to just taste better and better.

"Enjoy your ramen Naruto?" asked the person next to me. I didn't even think to look at him. I nodded with a wide grin on my face.

"Uh-huh!" I said.

"Good, then you should be completely reenergized right?" I nodded again.

"You bet!"

"That's great. Then that means you have enough energy to wash up all of that paint huh?"

"That's ri…huh? Wait a minute," I said slowly as I finally turned my head to my left. I froze in place as I watched big bro Iruka finish downing his own broth and place his bowl on the counter. Then he went into his wallet and handed over a wad of cash.

"Here, this is for both my share and his," he told big sis. Then he turned to me with that smile of his. "Ready to go Naruto?" The way he said it meant there was no room for argument. But like hell I was goin' back there again and having that guy scowling at me as I cleaned his shop which he deserved to have painted in the first place. No way!

Immediately I jumped up onto my feet and made a mad dash out of the restaurant and called over my shoulder.

"Thanks for the meal!" I yelled. I didn't need to look back to see he was chasing me.

"Naruto get back here! You have to take responsibility!" Big bro shouted after me. Again, no way in hell.

"NO!" I yelled back and continued running. Damn it, if it's not big bro Obito or Kakashi or big sis Rin then it's always big bro Iruka. Why? Why me?

I weaved in an out of crowded streets. I ran through back yards and jumped fences. I climbed walls and ran across rooftops just so I could try and hide again in the next crowded street over. But no matter where I went or how outrageous my methods were, he was always able to find me.

"You might as well give up now Naruto," he called from behind me. I was starting to get winded. "I'm a chunin and you're still a kid. I've had more training and experience than you and my endurance is higher. Just come take responsibility and clean up your mess!"

"Never!" I shouted back out of breath. "He deserved it!"

"Naruto," he tried to protest.

"No!" I shouted again. I was really getting winded now and all this yelling wasn't helping my case. Suddenly I spotted the perfect opportunity to escape. I pushed more energy into my legs and dashed off to the side where I ducked behind a bunch of people and then I jumped unnoticed into the moving basket of dirty laundry someone was wheeling down the street towards the laundromat.

I heard big bro Iruka call out my name several times before he huffed claiming I wouldn't get away then ran off in another direction. I smirked. This was perfect and as long as I stayed quiet the lady wheeling the cart wouldn't notice me for a while. Well played Naruto, well played indeed.

* * *

It was a while later when I opened my eyes. Huh, I must've dozed off. I rubbed the sleepies from the corners of my eyes and carefully poked my head out of the pile of clothes I'd been hiding in. I was at an old lady's place where she washed other people's clothes for money. It wasn't the laundromat like what I'd thought but it was pretty close. It was also far away from the center of the village.

Carefully, I climbed out of the dirty clothes and tried to crawl away quietly so I wasn't spotted. That plan went out the window as soon as the dog spotted me and then the woman was chasing me with one of the things you use to beat the dirt out of rugs with. I managed to get away without being hit but I could still hear her yelling at me as I ran back down the road towards the center of the village.

Once I got there I slowed down to catch my breath. Then I casually walked through the streets looking for something else to do.

It had gotten cloudier outside and it looked like it might rain soon. I ignored the clouds for now and just walked aimlessly, forgetting what I'd been doing earlier anyway. I had my hands stuffed in my pockets and my head down so as to try and avoid their attention but I could still feel those piercing cold gazes on me as I went. These stupid villagers are really annoying. They just stare at me like I'm not even supposed to be here and then treat me like trash whenever they feel like it. If it weren't for my big bros and sis and Mitsu and Sasuke, I'd be all alone.

I paused in walking. Come to think of it, I hadn't heard from them in a while. Plus the only reason we ever hung out was because of an incident when we were younger and then our caretakers thought it'd be cute to have us play together. I don't even know if they really consider me as a real friend. I mean, Sasuke doesn't seem to like me that much even if Mitsu tries to make him be nice. We end up fighting a lot even though it's all we really need to get rid of our pent up energy but…is that really friendship or…does he hate me? And is Mitsu just playing nice because she was told to? To be honest, those two really confuse me. I don't know what to make of them.

I shook my head and continued walking along the river road. As I walked, it started to rain. After a while, it was coming down in a downpour and so I ran for the cover of a rather big tree up the riverbank. I breathed a sigh of relief and sat down underneath it, letting my wet hair drip down my back as I watched the large droplets fall.

I was leaning back, just about to doze off to let the rain pass when…

"Agh!" I heard a scream and sat upright fully alert. I glanced about but didn't see anybody nearby. However, when I looked down closer to the river, I saw something that made my blood boil. A group of boys that looked older than me were ganging up on a girl that looked my age. She had wet soppy pink hair because of the rain and was being pushed around by the boys. I could hear what some of them were saying even through the downpour.

"You think you're better than us?" one demanded.

"You're not even close to being a ninja and you think you can tell us not to do what we want?" asked another. "C'mon, it was just a dog. Stupid animals don't care if they get hit with a stone or two."

"I-it wasn't doing a-anything," the girl tried to retort. I could hear her voice quivering as she tried to be brave. "Y-you can't just hurt it like that." One of the boys grabbed her by her hair and lifted her up.

"Shut-up," he yelled at her. "You're not the boss of us so you can't tell us what to do. Just for that, let's wash your ugly face in the river!" he sneered. The others agreed and began pushing her towards the water. She protested and called out for help but nobody was coming. Finally, they got her to the river and with one powerful push; one of the boys pushed her head under the water. That was the last straw.

I started running as I heard the boys laughing and they continued to push her head under water and pull her back up by her hair but they were leaving her under for longer periods of time and she'd started crying. They were about to do it again but my fist collided with the older boy's face. They stopped what they were doing and turned to me looking surprised at first. I panted from running then I yelled at them at the top of my lungs in anger.

"LEAVE HER ALONE YOU JERKS!"

* * *

 ** _Sasuke_**

We hadn't found him all day. I suppose it was because he truly didn't wish to be found but Mitsu began insisting around lunch when we missed finding him at his favourite noodle bar. She claims it's because of this feeling she has, that something bad will happen soon or has already happened. She's unsure but she's starting to rub off on me.

We took a break on my insistence to play a bit at a nearby park, hoping to take our minds off of things. Mitsu swung absently beside me on the swing-sets. We hadn't bothered to try attracting any attention to us and a few parents were wary because of our clan symbols which I found was odd. However regardless we didn't do much at the park. Mitsu sighed beside me.

"I have a bad feeling," she repeated again that day. "I'm worried." I nodded.

"He'll be fine," I tried to reassure her. "He's too stupid to get into any real trouble." It did little to persuade her. She sighed again then stood from the swing.

"C'mon, we've still got a few hours before mom will want us home," she pointed out. "It also looks like rain today so let's hurry and do a quick stroll before we head home." I nodded.

"Okay," I agreed. I honestly had no other idea as to what to do to keep from thinking about Naruto. We'd have found him by now because of our sensory skills. That is if he didn't know how to evade a Jonin level sensor to some extent already. Big bros Kakashi and Obito usually kept him on his toes. Even then when he was trying his hardest, his chakra was still like a beacon because of its two colours and how big it was. It also felt familiar to us.

We walked along the river to take in the scenery a bit. Along the way, since we were all the way across the village from the compound, it started to rain like Mitsu had predicted. However, Mitsu didn't wish to hurry out of it, in fact I doubt she even noticed it much. I meanwhile hurried at my own pace so that I was ahead of her, getting closer to getting out of the rain and dried as I wasn't very fond of being drenched in water at this time of year where the weather began to cool down more. But it was probably because I was further ahead from her – far enough that I could only see her as a speck through the rain if I glanced behind me – that I heard him first.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" he yelled loudly. I stopped to look. There on the riverbank, Naruto was standing with his arms outstretched protectively in front of a girl with messed up pink hair. She looked to be crying. He stood between her and some boys I didn't recognize. The kids looked to be around our age or older but they didn't look as nice.

One of them, I assumed the leader, stepped toward him with a sneer on his face and shoved him in the shoulder none too gently.

"Got something to say freak?" he laughed. "Stay out of this unless you wanna join her!" I frowned. I hate bullies. One of our cousins, Jinta, he's a big bully in our compound. In fact he often picks on me whenever he gets frustrated or something. Not only is it annoying but his punches kind of hurt although…after getting into fights with Naruto a few times, I have to say that the kid can throw a harder punch than Jinta ever could.

Anyways Naruto, like usual, was being completely stubborn and refused to back down. The girl he was defending was sniffling behind him.

"Yeah I'll join her…in kicking your ass if you try that again!" Naruto snapped back. The kids just laughed at him.

"Huh, so you think yer tough and all that huh?" one demanded. "Let's see how your big mouth fares against this!" The next thing I knew, the kid had slugged Naruto across the face making him fall off balance. Then he get shoved down by one of the other kids. The pink haired girl backed away out of fear and started crying again as they started to beat him up. I felt anger well up within me. I don't know why exactly. After all more oft than not I want to hit him myself. However this time is different. I feel genuine anger towards them.

I drew closer to them as my feet had started moving on their own. I'm fine with it because I want to hit them right now.

"Hey, knock it off!" I shouted as I got closer. The kid's eyes snapped towards me approaching. The girl started to stand, the rain drenching her and the ground she stood on. That isn't a good thing as she's standing right next to a rising river and the bank doesn't look sturdy. Suddenly it crumbled out from under her feet and she yelped as she fell off balance.

Naruto saw and began trying to reach out for her. I got closer but before I could reach them that stupid leader kid did something that made me want to beat him to a pulp.

"Heh, ya wanted to join her; join her!" he shouted as he shoved Naruto into the river with her. It's as he's falling that time seems to slow down and I see his eyes widen in fear and even though he isn't screaming out in terror, those eyes speak volumes. I can tell by those eyes why he's so afraid and I remember the time when we were at the pond in our compound to play and he avoided coming out into the water with us at all costs. Naruto can't swim.

I didn't stop to pound the bullies like I wanted. I kept going and did the stupidest thing I think I've ever done. I dove right in after them. The water was deep and the current was strong. It was at this time I also remembered when at the pond we'd stuck to the shallows and had never gone too far out. I couldn't swim either. I'd only been standing up and playing in shallow water. What was I thinking?

"H-help!" cried the panicked voice of my friend up ahead. I caught a glimpse of him as he dunked under the water helplessly and came back up trying to fight the current; trying to stay afloat. I noticed that the pink haired girl had latched onto a rock and was reaching for him but he was too far away and she couldn't reach him. I cursed and followed him both willingly and unwillingly. I continued to curse in my head.

 _'Just great Sasuke; way to go!'_ I berated myself. _'Just what good are you when you're acting just as stupid as your stupid friend? Neither of us can swim. We're…we're gonna die!'_

A sudden memory came to me as I squeezed my eyes shut in fear…from a dream that seemed like ages ago.

 _My 'mother' congratulated me._

 _"Great job honey!" she cheered as I surfaced again in my little swimming pool set up in the backyard. I cocked my head to the side._

 _"What do you mean?" I wondered. My mother chuckled._

 _"You just did the breast stroke sweetie. That's swimming. If you keep practicing you'll be able to do that in deeper waters too and you can be a great swimmer!" My eyes widened._

 _"Really?" I wondered. She nodded._

 _"Also…try this one too. It's called the front crawl," she said as she demonstrated. I watched then began to copy her movements. It was kind of fun and so I continued to practice this 'swimming' in my little swimming pool for the rest of the afternoon._

Alex had taught herself how to swim and it hadn't been long before her mom had signed her up for swimming lessons too. I remembered some of those as well. She might have been small and young but she'd managed to get a good handle on it even then.

I realized I do know how to swim. Alex had shown me how. I just had to move with the current and reach Naruto before something bad happened to him.

A course of action decided, I began to front crawl after Naruto, keeping my head above the water rather than face down. I need to be able to see him after all, not that this rain is of any help.

"Hang on!" I called after him. I can't tell if he heard me.

Up ahead, Naruto was in full on freak out mode; terrified that he might drown. I pushed myself to go even faster, moving my arms and kicking my legs while following the current. The water was chilling and it would flow into my mouth as I panted for breath. I spat it back out if I didn't accidentally swallow some at times and tried my best to ignore the taste. I can't lose sight of Naruto no matter what and so despite the cold waters, the pounding rain and my burning limbs and lungs, I pushed forward.

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

Stupid, idiotic, boneheaded numbskull with no brain! My brother is all of those things combined. I'd been lagging behind him as my worry for Naruto grew. I'd had a gut feeling ever since we couldn't find him at his usual hiding places including Ichiraku's. The feeling had been with me at the park as well and as we were walking home. Then the rain had started and it had only increased.

When I noticed my brother started running down the slope of the embankment towards the river up ahead; I'd picked up my own speed to see what was wrong. When I got there it was to see a bunch of boys around our own age laughing as my brother jumped into the rushing – starting to flood – river to chase after Naruto who I knew couldn't swim. I'd nearly had a heart attack since I remembered Sasuke couldn't swim either. By the time he proved me wrong by front crawling after Naruto, I'd gotten so mad, marched up to the one I could tell was the ringleader and literally pounded out the answers I wanted.

They were nothing more than bratty bullies who were too stupid and naïve to know what they'd just done. When I spelled it out for them, all in capital letters, I think I might've made one cry.

It was then that I noticed the cries for help coming from a rock in the middle of the river that was being assaulted by surges of water. A head of pink messy bangs alerted me to who else the idiots had been picking on and I watched as she was pushed off of her rock by heavy water flow. I shoved the leader to the ground telling him I'd settle the score later and ran towards the river, leaping in fearlessly with years of lifeguard training to back me up.

Of course, my endurance on the other hand was an entirely different matter. I swam after her as fast as I was able with the current and as I got closer, I called out over the squall.

"Hold on; I'm coming!" I shouted. She coughed and spluttered on the water entering her mouth and she tried to keep herself above the water. After a while of stroking, I finally caught up. Seeing my approach she immediately tried to jump me but I pushed her away as we were carried along.

"I can't help you if you drown us both. Calm down!" I shouted. She seemed panicked but still listened to my words. However, just then, a giant log from one of the shores broke free and was chasing us. With its size and weight on the water, it was speeding fast towards us.

"Look out I cried," to no avail as even though I narrowly dodged it, the log hit her and knocked her unconscious. I cursed under my breath and continued to swim after her. I caught up faster this time and got her into the special hold I'd learned when I was in lifeguarding. With that done, I continued to follow the current of the river while swimming towards the nearest shore. As I got closer to it, I noticed a tree root that was sticking out into the river and so I aimed to catch onto it.

"Almost, almost got it," I grunted as I kicked, my tinier muscles and body making it difficult to push myself harder. I was finally able to latch onto the root but the river was too strong. It pulled us off again, causing my eyes to widen and my heartrate to pick up in panic.

"No!" I exclaimed, still trying to reach for the root even as I was pulled further away. However, we didn't get too far before a hand clasped onto my own causing me to glance up and smile with relief.

"Itachi," I cried out. My older brother grunted and began to pull us up to the shore where he got us out of the water hurriedly. Once I was back on dry land – or rather wet land since it was still raining – Itachi turned to me with a concerned look on his face.

"Mitsu, are you hurt?" he asked me. I shook my head then turned to the girl I'd gone after.

"No, but this girl was knocked out by a giant log," I explained. Immediately Itachi got closer to the girl and proceeded to go through the process of CPR. I was glad it was him and not me doing it. Not that I don't have the experience and not that I would feel weirded out giving the kiss of life in this situation but just swimming after her in a raging river was all my tiny body could take. I needed air for myself.

After a bit of CPR, the girl finally woke back up, coughing and spluttering to get the water she'd accidentally breathed in out of her lungs. Shortly after, she threw up before she sat up shivering. Now that I think of it, I'm kind of cold too.

Itachi turned to me with a stern look on his face and I could see the clear panic I'd caused him.

"What were you thinking?!" he demanded of me. I winced slightly at the tone but forced myself to keep my cool.

"I was thinking that she needed my help because she'd drown otherwise," I retorted. Then I remembered something else and shook my head. "But forget about that. Sasuke and Naruto are still out there." Itatchi's eyes widened.

"What?!" he demanded again. I scowled as I thought of the punks responsible.

"Some bullies pushed Naruto into the river and Sasuke just went ahead and jumped right in," I told him. "Stop being mad at me and go help them!"

"That won't be necessary," a new voice chimed in. Itachi and I glanced up, surprised to see that Kakashi and Rin were standing there. Kakashi was the one who spoke. His face was set in a serious tone as he glanced down the river.

"We saw what happened," he claimed. "Obito is already after them. What matters now is we get you two someplace safe and dry to recover." Itachi stood up and gave Kakashi a determined stare.

"With all due respect, I'm going after them as well," he said, leaving no room for argument. "Please, take Mitsu and this girl back to the Uchiha compound since it's closer than the hospital. Hurry and explain everything that happened to my mother." Before Kakashi could try and stop him he was off racing down the riverbank using his speed as a ninja to go faster. Kakashi sighed.

"Well, I guess we've got no choice in the matter," he claimed. Meanwhile, Rin had knelt down beside both me and the girl, giving a reassuring smile.

"Come with us, we'll get you out of this rain," she promised. The pink haired girl could only shiver and nod as tears leaked from her eyes and rolled down her face accompanied by the rain. As Rin picked up the girl, Kakashi picked me up and as we were rushed towards the compound, I stared through the rain after where Itachi had disappeared to. I clenched Kakashi's shoulder with worry.

 _'Naruto…Sasuke…you idiots had better make it out alive our I swear I'll kill you for this,'_ I promised.

* * *

 ** _Sasuke_**

 _'That…was…too close,'_ I decided. I panted as I stared up into the dark cloudy sky. Naruto was beside me also panting as our fight for survival had left us weakened and in need of rest.

We'd been carried outside of the Leaf Village and I had managed to catch up with Naruto thankfully as the current raged around us. However, we nearly got sent over a waterfall and if it hadn't been for that tree branch hanging over us, we would've been goners. I turned my head to look at him and noticed he was trembling. But whether from the cold or because we almost died I couldn't tell. I could feel myself trembling as well. Yeah…that was way too close.

Deciding that we needed to get out of the rain, I shakily rolled over and began to stand up, using the nearby tree for support. I gulped down my emotions trying to remain calm while still potentially in danger.

"C-c'mon," I stuttered whilst shivering. It really was cold out. "We should…get back." I reached my hand down to him and he turned to look at it. He stared as though it was the first time he was seeing it or something. I frowned.

"Come on," I urged. He snapped out of whatever funk he'd been in and shakily reached for my hand. I did my best to help pull him up but man was I tired. The fight against the river had drained me and I think it had done the same to him as well. My legs felt like jelly and I felt as if I was going to collapse again any minute. But I knew we had to get back to the village and get back home. I was sure mother would let Naruto spend the night so he wasn't all alone again. It sucked that he was.

I tugged on his arm once he was up and we started our attempt to walk home. We didn't get too far before Naruto tripped over a tree root and we both fell. I felt so drained I didn't think I'd be able to stand again. Thankfully I didn't need to worry about walking for too long.

"Naruto, Sasuke!" a voice called. I looked up warily and Naruto did his best to sit up at least. Through the rain a figure landed nearby in front of us. I blinked in order to get a clearer image and was surprised with what I saw.

"Big bro…Iruka?" I questioned in surprise. True, Iruka Umino isn't related to either me or Naruto by blood but ever since he did a huge favor for mother and father when we were younger, he's practically become a part of our family and he's been nothing but brotherly to us. It was Naruto who started calling him big bro or big brother with Mitsu joining in willingly. Then without even realizing it, I'd started calling him that too and thinking of him as another big brother besides Itachi.

While Itachi is considered the prodigy of the Uchiha clan, Iruka is just an orphan with his parents having died in the Nine Tails attack a long time ago. But even so, it's like both him and Itachi have a homing beacon for whenever we run into trouble. If either one is away on a mission, the other one stays around to pick up the slack. But it's clear they're both pretty different. Itachi is more mysterious and - what was the word - complex? Well anyway, if he's not playing with us, on a mission or training, he's lost in his own little world. Mitsu says it's probably because he's some kind of deep thinker called a philosopher. According to her, Philosophers ask and attempt to answer important questions that have been argued over throughout time and are still pondered over today. She thinks Itachi could be the next hokage if he stayed the way he was.

Meanwhile, big bro Iruka is more playful and easier to understand. He's great at teaching, enough so that Mitsu and I both think he should become an instructor for the academy because how cool would that be? He also has a no nonsense kind of attitude for when we wind up getting into mischief. Although, he's slightly harder on Naruto when he pulls his pranks around the village. Mitsu says it's because he cares for Naruto because he's in the same boat as him with having no parents and all. She says it's because they're so alike that Iruka tries harder with him; so he doesn't do something stupid and get himself in over his head. I think it's a good idea since Naruto desperately needs someone who's strict in his life. But if we've all been good and we're just hanging out together, he'll offer to treat us to Ichiraku Ramen since it's his favourite place to eat and while ramen's not my absolute favourite food, I still like eating there sometimes.

To be honest, it shouldn't have surprised me as much that Iruka had found and caught up to us first. But since I'd just been through a lot trying to save Naruto from drowning, I suppose it had something to do with my frazzled nerves. I shivered again in the cold downpour as Iruka approached us hurriedly and with wide worried eyes.

"Hey, you two aren't hurt are you?" he asked getting down on one knee near us. I slowly shook my head and wiped some mucus from my starting to run nose. "You didn't breathe in any water right?" he asked again. Again I shook my head and Naruto did the same behind me shivering. Iruka sighed and stood up.

"Thank goodness," he claimed. "I was worried when I saw you both getting swept away by the current. Now let's get going back to the village." I nodded wordlessly trying to stand up. It was really cold out.

"Iruka, Naruto, Sasuke," I heard another voice shout. Glancing up once more, we saw cousin Obito land beside Iruka.

"Obito," Iruka spoke in greeting. Then he turned towards me again. "Neither of them seem to be hurt and they're not at risk of drowning anymore. But I think we should carry them back." Obito merely nodded.

"Right," he stated. He approached me and picked me up. I didn't fight it since I felt so weak. I coughed into his shoulder. "I've got Sasuke if you have Naruto," he stated. Iruka nodded, picking Naruto up beside me. I noticed as he clutched onto Iruka as if he was a lifeline. I know he has to have been shaken by what happened and to be honest so am I.

Without much else said between them, our two big brothers took off in the direction of home. We ran into Itachi along the way and he looked really worried. But I couldn't really focus on the words they exchanged as I watched Naruto shake in Iruka's arms. For some reason…seeing him so vulnerable makes me feel better. I don't want to sound mean; really I don't. But there's just something about seeing him shivering and clutching onto an adult figure that makes me feel like…like maybe I know him just a little bit better. I don't know if that makes any sense. Maybe I should ask Mitsu about these new feelings when we get home. There's no doubt she's already there. Hopefully she can help me make sense of all of this.

* * *

 ** _Sakura_**

The Uchiha's house is a nice place. It speaks of a classical era that allows the modern era to cross over and mesh together with the older one to create a modernized classical home. They had the traditional kitchen table where everyone would sit kneeling on pillows around it in order to eat their meals and in their living room, they had a kotatsu set up for the colder seasons to come across from a small TV which was probably rarely used.

I sat at the kotatsu table with my mother on my right and Mrs. Uchiha on the left. My father and Mr. Uchiha were speaking in the kitchen and possibly having a few grown up drinks while Mitsu, the girl who'd jumped into the river to rescue me, was pacing back and forth anxiously, her hair still dripping wet as she waited for the return of her twin brother.

"If you keep going like that dear, you'll wear a trench into the floor," her mother teased lightly trying to lighten the mood. To be honest I couldn't blame Mitsu for worrying. She must really care for her brother and her friend. She only grunted in response and continued to pace. Mom gave her own worried look.

"She must be really worried. I assume you are as well," she turned to Mrs. Uchiha. She looked down into her tea cup and bit her lip.

"Of course I'm worried," she admitted. "But I have faith that both Naruto and Sasuke will be alright." I noticed as my mother attempted to not visibly wince upon hearing his name. I find it really weird. Mom does her best to keep me away from the boy they're discussing while dad just shakes his head and tells her that she's being over dramatic. But knowing my mother, she had heard whatever wild rumor was flying around the gossip mill about the boy called Naruto and is now adamant about keeping me away. Although with how things were going, it probably won't last forever since she learned recently that it was Naruto who stood up for me first and that he could have drowned because of it.

Thinking about that possibility makes me shiver with repressed fear. I know mom's always worrying about me but I wouldn't want anyone to die because they were protecting me. It's terrifying to think about. Besides, even though he's known throughout the village as the number one prankster and vandal, a boy who would risk his life to save mine can't be all bad, can he? I mean, these people, the Uchiha's, seem to trust him and even tend to look out for him. So far, I can tell they're good people. If they trust this kid he's got to be good. Right?

"Sakura, are you going to drink your tea?" my mother's gentle voice called me back out of my thoughts and I glanced up to see I'd been drifting off while looking intently at the table. I blinked then shook my head and wrapped the towel I'd been given around me tighter. Mitsu had given me some of her clothes so I could get out of my wet ones but my hair is still wet so I'm keeping it off of me with the towel. I reached for the tea I'd been given by Mrs. Uchiha and brought it up to my lips, blowing on it a bit since it's still a bit too hot. Then I sipped at it quiet and grateful for the warm feeling of the herbal liquid running down my throat to heat up my cold insides.

I heard the sound of a door sliding open from the front entry and can hear the heavy downpour from outside as the sounds of men entering the house reached the living room.

"We're back," a deep voice called out. Mrs. Uchiha and even my mother got up to go towards the front door with Mitsu running ahead. I stayed where I was; feeling too awkward to move.

"Hurry, bring them into the living room," I hear Mrs. Uchiha say. "I'll go and get some more towels for everyone. Fugaku, Kizashi, they're here!" Then I heard her walk quickly away, watching as she passed the living room on her way towards another part of the house.

"OW!" I could hear the smack from in here and the sound of the boy who'd been hit complaining loudly. Then he shouted. "WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT FOR?!" he demanded.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK DUMMIE?!" I hear Mitsu yell back. "YOU JUMPED INTO A RISING RIVER WIHTOUT ANY IDEA OF HOW TO SWIM! WERE YOU EVEN THINKING?!" I could plainly hear the stress in Mitsu's voice as she was on the edge of tears and crying. I hung my head lower, knowing that I'd caused this to happen. If I hadn't tried to play the hero for a dog that was little more than a puppy, maybe none of us would be in this situation. But even thinking of the alternative now makes me cringe. Being that cruel to any animal shouldn't be allowed, I decided. Though the consequences were heavy.

"OF COURSE I JUMPED IN," the boy's sharp retort came. "HE WOULD'VE DROWNED IF I HADN'T AND FOR YOUR INFORMATION, I WAS ABLE TO SWIM JUST FINE!"

"YOU IDIOT!" She retorted, not seeming to know what else she was supposed to say. She might have had more to say actually, but I heard the stern voice of Mr. Uchiha cut through the yelling.

"Alright, that's enough you two." It was a voice that no kid should ever disobey. The voice of a strict father. Even though my mother is the one who usually gives me a talking to when I'm in trouble, my dad can be scary when he gets mad. Like that one time I got lost playing hide and seek with him while out shopping and he apparently wasn't aware we were playing a game. I'd fallen asleep in my hiding spot and wasn't found until the store was close to closing. Mom had been at an important meeting for her bed and breakfast business so she had left me home alone with dad along with a long grocery list he was supposed to complete before she came home. He'd been really, really mad at me for hiding like that and I had promised him, mom and myself that I'd never do it again.

Mr. Uchiha continued to talk to his children sternly. I can tell by his voice that he's stricter and possibly scarier than my dad can be when mad.

"There's no need to shout over this. Besides, we have guests in the house so behave yourselves or else! Now head into the living room with Naruto to dry off Sasuke. Mitsu, go and get some of Sasuke's dry clothes for him and Naruto to wear. They're about the same size so they should easily fit." Without much more of an argument but lots of muttered grumbles, I watched as Mitsu stomped with flushed cheeks and teary eyes past the living room entrance away from her brother and then listened as she climbed the stairs.

After she was gone, I watched as the boy, Sasuke led a shivering and soaked to the bone Naruto into the living room with a taller boy following close behind who could only be his and Mitsu's big brother I'd heard about. Following him into the living room area were Mr. Uchiha, my mother and father and two other taller boys, one looking like he wasn't a part of the family but could probably be a close friend. They were all soaking wet from the rain just like Mitsu and I had been when that Kakashi Hatake guy had brought us here with his partner Rin.

I quietly sipped my tea and kept my head down. I didn't want to be seen by them. After all, I caused them all so much worry and almost cost them their lives. So what was the point if they were probably going to shout at me or glare? Even if the Naruto kid had saved me from those bullies, it was because of me that they'd pushed him into the river with me when I'd fallen in. He apparently couldn't swim according to what was said earlier so he could've actually drowned. He looked really shaken up.

"Here we go," Mrs. Uchiha said as she reentered the living room, handing both boys their towels. Then she tossed the other three to the others who caught them easily.

"Thank you Aunt Mikoto," spoke the eldest of the three. He started wiping the water droplets away from his face before moving on to dry his hair.

"Thank you," the man with the spiked ponytail said. He also has a scar on his face. I wonder what happened to him. No, it's rude to stare so I shouldn't wonder about such things.

"Thank you mother," the older brother said in acceptance. Meanwhile, Mrs. Uchiha made her way over to the one called Naruto and started to help him take his shirt off. I immediately looked down with my cheeks turning red. I'm not supposed to watch boys get dressed or undressed. That's inappropriate. Though I couldn't help sneak glances every now and then. Other than take their tops off, Mrs. Uchiha didn't do anything else but help them dry their hair.

When she was done working on Naruto, she switched to Sasuke and I noticed as Naruto hugged himself shivering. Then I heard a huff near the door and turned to see that Mitsu had returned with two different outfits from Sasuke's room and handed them over to her brother and friend. As the two started to take off their pants so they were only in their boxers, I turned away embarrassed again. Then I heard another impact of a fist hitting someone else.

"OW!" Sasuke cried out again. Looking up, I saw he was glaring at Mitsu who in turn was glaring back at him. "STOP DOING THAT!" he shouted. Then his face turned into one of confusion as Mitsu fell to her knees and wrapped him in a hug that caught him off guard. Her cheeks were flushed red and she was glaring at the ground behind him.

"Idiot," she muttered. It was then that I noticed her shoulders were shaking and tears were streaming silently down her cheek. Meanwhile, Mrs. Uchiha sighed and joined the hug herself, bringing the two closer to her. I could see some tears in her eyes as well.

"You two…what you put me through…one of these days I'll have gray hair because of it." The two accepted her hug and they all stayed like that for a while. Meanwhile, the spiky pony tail guy was kneeling down beside the kid called Naruto.

"Are you okay Naruto?" he asked. Naruto shivered but nodded as he wrapped his towel tighter around him. However, the spiky ponytail guy didn't look like he believed him. Another gut wrenching feeling in my tummy reminded me he could've died saving me. I shuddered again but forced myself to stand up and approach him even if I was a little shaky.

"N-Naruto?" I stuttered, getting his and the spiky haired man's attention. He looked up at me curiously for a bit then smiled. I could tell it was forced.

"H-Hey…you're alright," he said gratefully. "I'm g-glad those guys…didn't hurt you anymore. I w-wish I coulda stopped em before we fell in." I trembled. Was he not affected at all by this ordeal? No, he was. He was just hiding it for my sake. Even now…he was trying to protect me and be strong even though he almost died and that should've scared him or made him cry. I'm so terrible. I caused him to do this. I can't help the tears that come to my eyes as I stared at him. He got confused then I hurriedly bowed deeply in apology as I started crying but held back the sobs enough to speak.

"I'm so sorry!" I proclaimed. I could sense them all staring at me in surprise.

"Sakura sweetie, what do you mean you're sorry?" my father questioned. "Naruto saved you. You should be grateful." I shook my head furiously.

"N-no..." I got out. "I can't be! I…I almost got him killed. He could've died because of me because he stood up to those boys. Then Sasuke a-and M-Mitsu jumped in too. They…they all could've died just trying to save me and then N-Naruto. I'm…I'm s-sorry!" The tears wouldn't stop coming now that I had made my guilt and fears known. I shuddered, taking in as many breaths as I could and wiped at my eyes.

"Sakura…" my mother said. She came over to draw me into an embrace and I accepted turning into her to try and find comfort. But not even my mother could wash away this guilty feeling I had.

"Why?" the quiet voice asked. I looked out again, eyes red, nose runny and saw that Naruto was staring at me with a controlled look of gentle calmness on his face. I could tell he was struggling to keep up the guise even as he smiled.

"Why are you sorry?" he asked again. "I know I'm not. And…I know that Mitsu isn't either because…you're still alive now. Those boys were being mean to you. I…didn't like seeing you hurting like that and crying so…I did something. I know we both went swimming because of it but…I'm still glad you're okay and besides…" he looked up at me with a big smile on his face. "I'm okay too so there's no need to worry. It wasn't that scary…believe it."

At first I was shocked. Then I felt pain again in my chest. It wasn't because of guilt this time. It was because…I was frightened of his smile. It was big and cheery looking but I could tell that it wasn't a real smile. It was all wrong and it made my tummy churn having to see it. So even more tears came to me and I started sobbing uncontrollably into my mom's shoulder again with her rubbing my back and trying to soothe me. It wasn't working though.

"Hey…why are you crying?" he continued gently. "It's okay really. It was no big deal and we're all okay now so please don't cry. I may not look it but I'm actually really strong. I promise I'm okay so…"

The resounding smack could be heard throughout the room. I turned my face outwards again to see and this time, instead of Mitsu hitting Sasuke, Sasuke was hitting Naruto. The force of the hit was so strong, it had sent Naruto to the floor and everyone in the room was surprised into silence. I was quiet too as a startled Naruto held his cheek and glanced up at Sasuke searching for some kind of explanation. In that moment, it was if they were the only two in the room.

* * *

 ** _Sasuke_**

My hand stung but that was okay. I was too angry to care. I could feel myself trembling all over and the majority of it was anger towards a certain idiot that was sitting dumbfounded in front of me. In truth, the moment of silence only lasted a few minutes before the adults started moving again.

"Ah, Naruto, are you okay?!" asked a shocked and worried Iruka.

"Sasuke, what's gotten into you," my mother scolded. "Why did you do that?"

"Explain, now!" my father demanded also not too happy. But for some reason, all I could really focus on was Naruto. He sat before me looking completely startled. That was another reason I knew he wasn't fine like he said. If Naruto were himself, he would have already jumped up demanding a fight and blowing his top at something so random and bizarre.

While my parents and everyone waited for an explanation, I could feel Mitsu's chakra relax slightly. It had been a bit agitated before and I knew that she could feel it too. She may have been surprised by what I'd done but I knew she understood why I'd done it too.

I panted as I straightened up to stare down at Naruto. Seeing the confused dumb look on his face only made me angrier. I hit him over the head again.

"Ow!" he yelped holding the new sore spot.

"Sasuke, stop it!" mother snapped at me. This time, a bit of the old Naruto came through as he looked just a little bit more peeved but it wasn't enough. He frowned at me.

"Why'd you hit me?!" he demanded. I gritted my teeth and trembled.

"Because…" I started. "…it's because of what you said to her." I could sense the confusion growing in the room. All but Mitsu didn't understand. Naruto frowned deeper.

"What, all I said was I was fine and she didn't have to cry," he retorted. "What's wrong with that? I'm telling her it's no big deal to get so worked up over and it's not." I felt another flare of anger course through me. I didn't even know my fist was moving until Naruto yelped in pain again and then scooted back trying to get away from me but I followed.

"Sasuke, that's enough," my mother told me. "Stop hitting Naruto right now." I trembled even angrier.

"NOT UNTIL HE STOPS LYING!" I shouted. I was close to breaking down into angry and pained tears but I held strong. Not yet. Naruto looked at me surprised and a little fearful.

"Lying?" he questioned. Then he put on a more determined looking mask. "I'm not lying, what could I possibly be lying about?! You're not making any sense!"

"JUST SHUT-UP!" I shouted at him. "You know exactly what you're lying about so just stop! You almost drowned and died today so you're **not** fine and you're **not** as brave as you're pretending to be. I saw it with my own eyes. You were scared out of your mind and you were calling for help even before you knew I was there! So stop pretending it's not a big deal and that you're okay after all of that because it's wrong! Just cry like a normal kid you idiot!" The tears I was holding back were threatening to spill over. I couldn't; not yet. Not until I made sure this idiot stopped lying to everyone's faces including his. I'd pound him until he did cry if I had to.

Naruto was startled by my claim. But I think that everyone else was starting to understand it better. Big brother looked like he was just watching and Iruka was looking between us with shock. Meanwhile, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Sakura trembling in her mother's arms. I could tell she was grateful. She probably saw through it too and because he didn't react normally, it had scared her. Mitsu just clung to mother watching; almost urging Naruto to break down into uncontrolled sobs and tears. But the stubborn little brat was tougher to crack than that. He frowned up at me, some anger pushing through the cracks.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he claimed. "But I'm not lying. I'm fine Sasuke so quit hitting me. You're the one being an idiot." That was it; I saw red.

"Oh yeah," I growled. Then I lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. While mother and Mrs. Haruno tried to tell us to stop, we started wrestling each other, doing what we did best; punch each other til there was a winner or we were too tired to continue.

I threw a punch wildly, not caring where it hit but he managed to catch it and tried to hit me. I dodged and sent another one followed by a knee kick. The kick connected and he grunted but that didn't stop him from giving me a bloody nose. We kept going.

"Why are you being so stupid," he demanded angrily.

"I'm not the stupid one stupid," I snarled back. At the back of my mind, I thought it was odd that nobody had broken us apart yet but the forefront of my mind was focused on Naruto.

"Oh yeah well I'm not the one making wild accusations," he snapped.

"And I'm not a liar," I threw back. I bit his hand when it came to close to my face.

"Neither am I!" he shouted through slight tears of pain.

"Yes you are!" I shouted back having spit his hand out. There was a bit of blood on my mouth now from breaking the skin. We continued to tussle, my mother's and Iruka's voices in the background drowned out by the desperate need inside to make the blockhead I was pounding cry like he should be doing.

"Whadya want from me!" he yelled. I finally managed to pin him under me and keep his arms from moving.

"Just cry damn it!" I yelled back. "You're such a liar. You lie to everyone who cares about you and you even lie to yourself. It's not just today, it's every day! That stupid smile of yours is fake and you know it. You keep hiding behind it for some stupid reason and it keeps pissing me off. I hate being lied to! So stop it and cry already!"

"No!" he shouted. "I'm not gonna cry just cuz you say. You're crazy!"

"And you're stupid! Dammit, why won't you cry?!" I screamed. I couldn't understand it. It was clear to me that Naruto was always experiencing some kind of pain. I know because for a reason I can only assume is my chakra sense, I can sometimes feel that pain in my chest too. It's as if we're sharing it and it's annoying. He won't open up about it and I can't for the life of me figure out the source. Plus what's more is that Mitsu feels it too but keeps quiet about it around him, hoping that just us hanging out with him every other odd day will make him happy enough to chase all of that pain away. But that won't ever be enough. He has to cry this pain out. I need to cry this pain out. It just…hurts so much.

"Because then I'd look weak!" he shouted at me. I was surprised by this. "I'm gonna be hokage someday so…so…so I can't look weak!" I slapped him with the back of my hand.

"No! There's no way a liar like you could ever be hokage! Hokage's don't lie like this!"

"I'm not lying…"

"Yes you are!"

"No I'm not! It's a shinobi rule anyways that you're not supposed to cry! I can't cry okay?! Not if I'm gonna be a shinobi!"

"You're just making excuses! You're nowhere near being a shinobi yet so you don't have to keep yourself from crying!" I don't know when but I started getting off of him and he'd started sitting up. I narrowed my eyes at him. "There's no reason you can't cry; you're four!"

"Yes there is, I…"

"Just cry!"

"No!"

"Why?!"

"Because nobody cares even if I do!" he finally shouted. His voice cracked and his eyes looked red and puffy. He was still trying to keep it all in but the tears I wanted from him were starting to leak out. I blinked in surprise.

"Where would you get an idea like that?" I wondered. Seriously how could he think that? He trembled before me.

"From everybody," was his reply. "It hurts okay…everyday it hurts walking through this stupid village and everybody stares at me with that icy cold look in their eyes. They whisper about me even though I can hear them and they call me names. They kick me out of places I didn't do anything to and they try to ignore me. The only time they don't is when I paint their stores and homes and they yell at me. When they do, at least they've seen me and don't pretend I don't exist! I'm always alone don't you get it?! I've cried before but nobody's heard me or listened. They don't care okay; nobody cares! Why should I cry when nobody wants to hear it or will do anything to shut me up? Why should I cry when you guys play with me and there's no reason to be sad even if it still hurts? It's better if I don't cry because then they can't hurt me anymore! Nothing can hurt me!"

More tears were leaking past his defenses. My own defenses were crumbling as well. I wasn't blind. I saw how some people stared horribly at Naruto whenever we were out. Sometimes they'd extend that stare to Mitsu and I because we were with him and I never understood why. At first I thought it was just because he was always obnoxious and annoying, pulling pranks on people. But really…all that time and I never realized…how much he was hurting because of those icy stares. I never noticed that he needed to cry out his feelings so badly because he'd keep his defenses up and I'd be too angry because of that. Had Mitsu not noticed too? Had she been focusing so hard on being his friend that she always tried to make him feel happy instead of sad? She must have forgotten that she told me once that it was okay to cry sometimes no matter who you were; that crying could make you feel better.

Slowly but surely, I was beginning to understand my feelings towards Naruto; why I was so angry every time I saw him and why I wanted to punch that smile off of his face. It was because it was a fake smile and I hated being lied to. It was because he'd been hurting and I'd known but hadn't known how to approach the matter. It was because despite always being in pain, he never told us or tried to get our help. It all made me feel really angry because whenever he hurt…somehow I hurt too. I trembled in anger again but also in no longer controllable emotion.

"You…you idiot," I growled at him. Then I lunged again. He braced himself, thinking I was going to attack and hit him again. I surprised the both of us when instead I wrapped him in a strong hug shuddering as tears started leaking from my eyes. Those same eyes started to itch a bit too but I barely paid that any attention.

"You're an idiot," I repeated, hiccupping with sobs. "I'm your friend aren't I? I don't care…if you cry or not because I don't…w-want you to hurt anymore. It hurts and makes…me angry when you smile…c-cuz i-it's not real and I know it's not. But you're being stupid when you say nobody cares cuz I care…a-and Mitsu care. I almost lost you today…I-I was scared cuz I didn't know i-if I could save you in time and I didn't wanna lose you…cuz you're my best friend ya know? So please…please Naruto…cry already…please!"

I shuddered and hiccupped, unable to stop my own crying anymore. I just want him to cry with me and stop being so stupid. I can't take this anymore. I pulled him closer unable to let him go.

He was tense, trembling in my grasp. I could feel he really wanted to let loose but he held back for a bit more.

"S-Sasuke?" he questioned, his voice cracking. He was close. I felt him turn his head somewhere.

"Go ahead Naruto," I heard my sister said. Honestly, I had forgotten that there were others in the room with us. They'd been so quiet. "Please…I know you need this and you're with us so it's all okay." His trembling increased. Then the voice of that girl, Sakura spoke up.

"P-please…i-it's o-okay to cry," she begged him. I nodded

"W-we're n-not shinobi y-yet s-so…it's okay for us to cry," I told him through my sobs.

"Even shinobi can cry sometimes," my father said from the corner of the room. "Go ahead son, you'll feel better." Again Naruto's trembling increased.

"S-Sasuke…M-Mitsu…e-everyone, I…I…" his voice was heavy with emotion. I tightened my hold on him meaningfully as I continued to sob. Then every last one of his walls came crashing down, he fell into me hugging me back just as tightly with a loud wail escaping him and from there, there was no holding back.

We both cried loudly, staying in our hold and accepting others that came to wrap their arms around us. Mother came; big brother came even though he feels awkward about this kind of stuff. Father came too and so did Iruka, Mitsu and eventually even Sakura with all us kids crying our eyes out. And despite my runny nose, growing headache, itchy eyes and heightening temperature; I'd never felt so good inside; like a weight had been lifted from me I didn't know I'd been carrying. And I could tell that Naruto felt the same way.

* * *

 ** _Mitsu_**

I'd been such a fool. Of course Naruto needed more than happy memories to help ease him through his harsh treatment in his childhood. The kid didn't even understand why he was pushed away by the other villagers and the fact that he couldn't come to us when he needed to made my heart ache.

Like Sasuke, I could feel what was truly in his heart; the pain he felt every day. As a chronological adult, I should have known better but then again…I usually sucked at trying to figure people out. The chakra sense was helpful sure but it didn't completely erase the experience of awkwardness from my previous life when it came to dealing with other people's emotions and personal drama. Even now, I'm still just guessing at what has to be done and I feel so utterly embarrassed and useless that I hadn't been able to see what Sasuke had been able to from the start. Now their fighting constantly made better sense. Their constant bickering and yelling then punching and rolling around in the dirt was clear. Sasuke had been mad at Naruto for hiding his real emotions from us; mad that he hadn't trusted us enough to show us how he really felt.

But it's probably my fault. I'd done my best to try and make him happier than he was without actually addressing the real root of the issue. I feel like I'm Joy from the movie Inside Out where sadness was completely alienated because she was thought to be unimportant. The reason behind that sadness and pain was never addressed until the very end of the movie where it showed that Riley, the girl the sentient emotions belonged to, was actually missing her home and sadness was merely trying to express that only Joy kept getting in the way.

I had never meant to make Naruto feel like he had to hide his sadness and pain. In fact I had hoped becoming his friend would make him see he could trust us and tell us anything. I just thought he was waiting for a time he felt more secure and safe with us before then but really, if Sasuke hadn't done anything like what he'd just done to break down his walls, then now I think he'd have continued trying to hide it. Then it could have festered inside until there would be no other outlet than rage because he refused to cry and that could've led to the creation of another Gaara. I had almost unintentionally created an enemy out of a friend and I hadn't even realized. How stupid am I? What's the point of foreknowledge and a whole life of experience when it can't even help a kid figure out that he needs to express his emotions freely instead of locking them away? Useless!

"Are…are you okay?" questioned a small voice beside me. I was pulled from berating myself to find Sakura fidgeting beside me. The adults had moved to the kitchen while cousin Obito and big bro Iruka headed home their separate ways a while ago, Iruka saying he had a mission tomorrow morning. Itachi had dozed off under the kotatsu while pondering over his own thoughts and Naruto and Sasuke had cried themselves to sleep and were cuddled under the kotatsu table's blanket on the other side of Itachi. From the flush on their cheeks and their skin looking a bit clammy, I'm worried they might be developing fevers. I glanced over to Sakura who was looking at me before my gaze made her look away shyly.

"I mean…you've been glaring at floor. Are you mad?" she wondered. I blinked then sighed and smiled at her.

"Just at myself is all," I replied quietly. We were sitting against the wall with our knees pulled up to our chests and our arms hugged around. Sakura glanced my way curiously.

"Why?" she asked. I shrugged even though I knew the answer.

"Because I've been a bad friend," I said. She blinked.

"How?" she asked. "To me it seems you're a good friend." I smiled bitterly at the ground.

"Yeah some friend," I laughed harshly at myself startling her. "I couldn't even see that my best friend was hurting and needed to be sad for a while to cure it. My brother's a better friend than me." She blinked again and turned to see the sleeping boys. They looked so peaceful now that they'd let loose.

"It's not your fault," she tried to console me. "I mean…stuff like that can be hard to pick up on." I gritted my teeth.

"But I should've been able to," I hissed, gripping my knees tighter. "I can sense emotions in chakra so I should've sensed it sooner and done something about it. I mean I tried to make him happy but that wasn't what he needed. He needed a shoulder to cry on and vent his frustrations; an ear to listen to him complain about those stupid villagers that won't be nice to him or leave him alone. I knew what he was feeling but I didn't do the right thing. I only did what I thought was best and clearly that wasn't enough. I mean…even I know you need to cry sometimes to get rid of bad feelings. I should've known."

She was silent beside me. I honestly didn't blame her. She probably didn't fully understand what I was talking about anyways.

"So…you made a mistake," she finally said. "I don't think that makes you a bad friend though." I looked up at her curiously.

"What do you mean?" I asked. She blushed and fidgeted with her feet but continued anyways.

"Well…you were only doing what you thought was right, right? Even if you got it wrong, you still cared enough to try. I'm sure Naruto knows that too; especially now that Sasuke's reached him but…you shouldn't beat yourself up for missing a few clues and ques. Because even if you can sense emotions in chakra, they're still difficult to deal with for anybody really. All that really matters is that you cared and didn't abandon him. To be honest…I kind of wish I had friends like that." I blinked in surprise. Then I smiled at her a bit sadly.

"So…you don't have friends?" I asked. She simply shook her head. Then I thought through what she'd just said. In a way, she was right. I'd made a mistake and it wasn't entirely my fault for not noticing sooner. Even though I felt low for it, I could understand that beating myself up for it wouldn't do any good for myself or others. Besides, it wasn't like I could turn back time. What was done was done. However, there was still one loose end to tie up.

"Hey Sakura," I started, getting her attention. "If I'm not supposed to beat myself up…then neither are you." She was surprised as she looked at me.

"What do you mean?" she asked. I turned to her.

"When you apologized earlier for what happened…I hope you realize that that wasn't your fault either. It was bad weather coupled with some bullies that caused it. And even if Sasuke and Naruto were scared of almost dying, I know for a fact that Naruto would do what he did again if it meant he could protect you."

"What…but why?" she asked slightly alarmed. I continued to address her while making eye contact.

"Because he hates being bullied. And because he hates being bullied he doesn't like seeing others being bullied either. He knows how painful it is so he'll try and prevent that pain from happening to someone else. So when he stepped up to defend you, he didn't regret his decision. I can tell he still doesn't even after a scare like what he just had. So don't blame yourself." She looked down at her feet.

"But…if I hadn't tried to stop those boys from hurting that poor puppy then they wouldn't have started picking on me in the first place. Then he wouldn't have had to…"

"Do you regret saving the puppy?" I asked, cutting her off. She looked up in surprise. But then she shook her head.

"No. They were being so cruel to it and I couldn't just watch. So I told them I'd tell on them and then they came after me. The puppy got away and I'm glad for that." I smiled nodding.

"Then you've got nothing to be sorry for," I told her. "When you can do something brave like that without regrets…whatever happens after may happen but you'll be able to grow and learn from it to become stronger. That way you can live a truly fulfilling life and that's a life worth living" I nudged her playfully. "So don't get so worked up over what happened. It happened but what matters is the here and now and how we move forward." She looked at me with wide eyes that started to water somewhat but she wiped away the tears and a smile found its way onto her face.

"Thanks," she said. "I'll try." I smiled back then nodded before suddenly getting an idea. I stood up.

"Wait right here," I told her before running out of the living room and up to my room. As soon as I entered I started going through the top drawer in the nightstand by my bed. Once I found what I was looking for, I put it in my pocket before pulling out a small notepad and pen. I wrote on it before taking it with the pen and ran back downstairs.

In the time I'd been away, Sakura's parents had obviously told her to get ready to go home and they were standing by the door now while I ran up to them.

"Wait, here I have something for you," I proclaimed, catching Sakura's attention. She had on a raincoat that her mother had brought over when she was called earlier. First I ripped the piece of paper out of the notebook and handed it over to her.

"This is my address and phone number okay," I said. She nodded, seeming surprised before I handed her the notepad and pen. "Now write yours okay?" She seemed unsure.

"Go ahead," her mother urged with a smile. Sakura nodded then wrote down her home address and phone number on the paper. Once she handed it back to me, I then reached into my pocket and produced a special piece of jewelry. It was technically a family heirloom. My grandmother had given it to me to keep safe, warning me to be careful since it was broken. It used to be a brooch with a beautiful flower charm as its centerpiece but the flower had snapped in half when one of my cousins had played with it. I had promised that I'd cherish it but who was to say I had to be the only one? I had since smoothed the edges of the break and attached each half to a special wrist band, transforming the halves into a pair of bracelets, one with each half of the flower. Below each half was written a word. Under one half it said 'Beautiful' while the other half said 'Angel'. I handed her the half that said 'Beautiful'.

"I want you to have this okay," I told her. "It was a gift from my grandmother but it was broken a long time ago by accident so I mended it a bit. If I keep one half and you keep the other then I hope it will remind you that we're now friends. Got it?" Sakura blinked at me in surprise, looking down at the bracelet in her hand.

"We're…friends?" she asked. I giggled and nodded.

"Uh huh, that's right!" I proclaimed. She looked back up at me and I noticed as tears started rimming her eyes. Then she rushed forward and hugged me in gratitude and I hugged her back. When we finally pulled apart I smiled then winked at her.

"Also, if you ever find yourself being picked on when I can't be around, just read that word and remember that it's true okay? Because seriously, you're a really beautiful person." Sakura nodded and held the brooch bracelet closer to her.

"Thank you," she said. I nodded.

"You're welcome," I replied.

After that, Mr. and Mrs. Haruno thanked me for being so kind and brave towards their daughter. Then they left, Mr. Haruno picking his daughter up and taking her in his arms as the three began walking home. As I waved after them, I felt a yawn escape me and a hand rested on my shoulder. I glanced up to see my mother smiling down at me.

"That was a nice thing you did Mitsu," she commented. I nodded.

"I want to be there for her the next time bullies like those boys try and pick on her," I stated truthfully. I rubbed my eyes and mom squeezed my shoulder comfortingly.

"Yes," she agreed. "I find it admirable that you want to help her. But for now…why don't we get you into bed? It's been a long day. I yawned again.

"No argument there," I spoke tiredly and allowed her to lead me back inside. While she went to clean up the kitchen, I found myself drawn back to the living room where Naruto and Sasuke were. They looked so cute cuddled up together that I found myself giggling. Then a wave of fatigue hit me hard and I yawned again.

I decided to forego heading upstairs figuring that would take too much energy and crawled under the kotatsu next to Itachi. In the next few minutes, I was already fast asleep.


End file.
